Reynard the Fox

Reynard the Fox , celebrated hero of the medieval beast epics, works predominantly in verse which became increasingly popular after c.1150. They are found chiefly in Latin, French, Low German, Dutch, High German, and English. The type probably originated in a German-speaking section of what is now Alsace-Lorraine, whence it passed into France, the Low Countries, and Germany. The summons of Reynard by King Noble (the Lion) to answer accusations by Isengrim the Wolf and other animals forms the nucleus and starting point of the loosely connected tales. Most of the stories reflect in biting satire the peasant's criticism and contempt for the upper classes and the clergy. An episode at once outstanding and typical is the funeral of Reynard, with the pious laments of his late enemies and his devastating resurrection from the grave. Professional minstrels and poets soon found these tales good entertainment and made them popular with the upper and middle classes. The French, who contributed most to the original story, produced Le Roman de Renart (c.1175-1250). Caxton translated from a Flemish version his Historie of Reynart the Foxe (1481). Modern English versions include T. J. Arnold's translation (1860) of Goethe's Reinecke Fuchs, a paraphrase of an older High German version, and William Rose's Epic of the Beast (1924).

Bibliography: See K. Varty, Reynard the Fox (1967); The History of Reynard the Fox, tr. by W. Caxton, ed. by N. F. Blake (1970).

Reynard the Fox, the central character in the Roman de Renart, a series of popular satirical fables, related to the bestiaries and the tradition from Aesop's Fables, written in France at various times c.1175–1250. The first known cycle is the Latin one by Nivard of Ghent, Ysengrimus (c.1148), and this was followed by the Middle High German Reinhard Fuchs (c.1180). There is a Flemish version from c.1250; another Flemish version (now lost) was translated into English and printed by Caxton in 1481. In these anthropomorphic stories, the fox is the man who preys on society and is brought to justice but escapes by his cunning. The most important of these is the Middle English ‘The Fox and the Wolf’. Other related works in English are Chaucer's ‘The Nun's Priest's Tale’ (Canterbury Tales, 20), some of Henryson's ‘Morall Fabillis of Esope’ (where the fox is called Lowrence), and J. C. Harris's Uncle Remus stories (where the role of the fox is taken by Brer Rabbit). The principal characters in Caxton's version are: Reynard the Fox, King Noble the Lion, Isengrym the Wolf, Courtoys the Hound, Bruin the Bear, Tybert the Cat, Grymbert the Badger, Coart (or Cuwaert) the Hare, Bellyn the Ram, Martin and Dame Rukenawe the Apes, Chanticleer the Cock, Partlet the Hen. Ermeline is Reynard's wife and Malperdy (Malpertuis) his castle.

Reynard a name for a fox, especially as a proper name in the Roman de Renart, a series of popular satirical fables written in France c.1175–1250, and in other stories.