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REYNARD THE FOX
Illustrations by
Wilhelm von Kaulbach
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Reynard The Fox
literary character
Main
hero of several medieval European cycles of versified animal tales that
satirize contemporary human society. Though Reynard is sly, amoral,
cowardly, and self-seeking, he is still a sympathetic hero, whose
cunning is a necessity for survival. He symbolizes the triumph of craft
over brute strength, usually personified by Isengrim, the greedy and
dull-witted wolf. Some of the cyclic stories collected around him, such
as the wolf or bear fishing with his tail through a hole in the ice, are
found all over the world; others, like the sick lion cured by the wolf’s
skin, derive by oral transmission from Greco-Roman sources. The cycle
arose in the area between Flanders and Germany in the 10th and 11th
centuries, when clerks began to forge Latin beast epics out of popular
tales. The name “Ysengrimus” was first used as the title of a poem in
Latin elegiac couplets by Nivard of Ghent in 1152, and some of the
stories were soon recounted in French octosyllabic couplets. The Middle
High German poem “Fuchs Reinhard” (c. 1180) by Heinrich (der
Glîchesaere?), a masterpiece of 2,000 lines, freely adapted from a lost
French original, is another early version of the cycle.
The main literary tradition of Reynard the Fox, however, descends
from the extant French “branches” of the Roman de Renart (about 30 in
number, totaling nearly 40,000 lines of verse). These French branches
are probably elaborations of the same kernel poem that was used by
Heinrich in the earlier German version. The facetious portrayal of
rustic life, the camel as a papal legate speaking broken French, the
animals riding on horses and recounting elaborate dreams, suggest the
atmosphere of 13th-century France and foreshadow the more sophisticated
“Nun’s Priest’s Tale” of Geoffrey Chaucer. Because of the popularity of
these tales the nickname renard has replaced the old word goupil (“fox”)
throughout France. The Flemish adaptations of these French tales by
Aenout and Willem (c. 1250) were the sources of the Dutch and Low German
prose manuscripts and chapbooks, which in turn were used by the English
printer William Caxton and subsequent imitators down to J.W. von
Goethe’s Reineke Fuchs (1794).
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REYNARD THE FOX
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Type of work: Beast-epic
Author: Unknown
Type of plot: Satiric stories
Time of plot: Middle Ages
Locale: Europe
First transcribed: Eighth century (?)
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Second in popularity only to the fables of Aesop is the old German
tale Reynard the Fox. In it we see that cunning always conquers force,
that one who lives by his wits will never suffer. We grudgingly admire
the villainous hero even while hoping he will get his just punishment.
In some explications, Reynard represents the Church, Isengrim the
baronial component, and Noble the monarchy.
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Principal Characters
Reynard, the fox. So crafty and persuasive a liar is he, that he is at
last made high bailiff of the country, though he has flagrantly cheated
and injured all of the animals, including the king. Thus is craftiness
set above mere strength.
Noble, the lion, King of Beasts. He listens to the animals' grievances
against Reynard, and even sentences the fox to death. But Reynard lies
so cleverly about hidden treasure and treachery on the part of the
others that the king frees him. Noble is similarly gulled a second time
and on this occasion even makes Reynard high bailiff.
Isengrim, the wolf, whose children have been made blind by Reynard.
Convinced of Isengrim's treason, the king gives the wolf's shoes to
Reynard. After this, when the wolf and the fox are engaged in combat,
Reynard persuades Isengrim to let him go with promises of rewards.
Tibert, the cat. He defends Reynard before the others until he has been
tricked by the fox into jumping into a trap.
Bruin, the bear. Reynard's promises of honey lure him into a trap, and
he is badly beaten before he escapes. Later Reynard convinces the king
that Bruin is plotting to replace him as ruler. Noble gives Bruin's skin
to Reynard.
Grimbard, the brock. He defends Reynard before the court, and even warns
the fox of a plot against him.
Panther, who complains of Reynard to the king.
Chanticleer, the cock. His complaint is that Reynard deceived him into
relaxing his vigilance by pretending to have given up eating flesh. Then
Reynard eats Chanticleer's children.
Kyward, the hare. He accompanies Reynard on a "pilgrimage" and is eaten
by him.
Bellin, the ram, who goes with Reynard and Kyward. Deceived into
thinking he is carrying a letter, he brings Kyward's head to the king.
The furious king then gives the stupid ram and all his lineage to the
wolf and the bear, to atone for his misjudgment of them.
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The Story
When Noble, the great Lion-king, held court during the Feast of the
Pentecost, all the animals told the king of their grievances against
Reynard the fox. The list of sins and crimes was almost as long as the
list of animals present. First to complain was Isengrim the wolf, whose
children had been made blind by the crafty fox. Panther told how Reynard
had promised the hare that he would teach him his prayers, but when the
hare had stood in front of Reynard as he was instructed, Reynard had
grabbed him by the throat and tried to kill him. To Chanticleer the
cock, Reynard had gone disguised as a monk, saying that he would never
eat flesh again, but when Chanticleer relaxed his vigilance over his
flock and believed the villain, Reynard had grabbed his children and
eaten them.
So the complaints went on, with only Tibert the cat and Grimard the
brock speaking in Reynard's defense. These two reminded the king of the
crimes committed by the complainers, but the king was stern; Reynard
must be brought to court to answer for his sins. Bruin the bear was sent
to bring in the culprit. Bruin was strong and brave, and he promised the
king that he would not be fooled by Reynard's knavery of flattering
tongue.
When Bruin arrived at Reynard's castle and delivered the king's message,
Reynard welcomed the bear and promised to accompany him back to court.
In fact, Reynard said that he wished they were already at court, for he
had abstained from meat and eaten so much of a new food, called
honeycombs, that his stomach was swollen and uncomfortable. Bruin fell
into the trap and begged to be taken to the store of honey. Reynard
pretended to be reluctant to delay their trip to court, but at last he
agreed to show Bruin the honey. The wily fox led Bruin into a trap in
some tree trunks, where the poor bear was set upon by humans and beaten
unmercifully. He escaped with his life and sadly made his way back to
court, mocked by the taunts of his betrayer.
Enraged at the insult to his personal messenger, the king sent Tibert
the cat to tell Reynard to surrender himself at once, under penalty of
death. Tibert, however, fared no better. He was tricked into jumping
into a net trap by the promise of a feast on mice and rats. He too
escaped and returned to the court, no longer a defender of the
traitorous Reynard. The next time the king sent Grimbard the brock to
bring in the fox. He was also warmly received by Reynard's promise to
accompany him to court. This time the evil fox actually kept his
promise, confessing all of his sins to the brock as they journeyed.
At court, Reynard was confronted by all of his accusers . One by one
they told of his horrible crimes against them. Reynard defended himself
against them all, saying that he was a loyal and true subject of the
king and the object of many lies and deceits. The king was unmoved and
sentenced Reynard to death. On the gallows, the fox confessed his sins,
saying that he was the more guilty because he did not steal from want,
since money and jewels he had in great plenty. Hearing Reynard speak of
his treasure, the greedy king wanted it for himself, and he asked
Reynard where the jewels were hidden. The fox said that he would gladly
tell him the hiding place, for the treasure had been stolen in order to
save the king's life. Crafty Reynard told a slippery story about a
treasure that the other animals were going to use to depose the king and
make Bruin the ruler in his place. In order to save the life of his
sovereign, Reynard had stolen the treasure from the traitors and now had
it in his possession. The foolish king, believing the smooth liar,
ordered Reynard released from the gallows and made a favorite at court.
Bruin the bear and Isengrim the wolf were arrested for high treason.
Reynard said that he himself could not show the king the treasure
because he had to make a pilgrimage to Rome to ask the pope to remove a
curse from him. For his journey he was given the skin of the bear and
the shoes of the wolf, leaving those two fellows in terrible pain. The
king then put his mail around Reynard's neck and a staff in his hand and
sent him on his way. Kyward the hare and Bellin the ram accompanied
Reynard on the pilgrimage. They stopped at the fox's castle to bid his
wife good-bye, and there Reynard tricked the hare, killed him, and ate
all but the head. That he sent back to the king by the ram, that stupid
animal thinking he was carrying a letter for the monarch. The king was
so furious that he gave the ram and all of his lineage to the wolf and
the bear to atone for the king's misjudgment of them.
Complaints against the fox again poured into the king's ear. At last he
determined to lay siege to Reynard's castle until the culprit was
captured. This time there would be no mercy. Grimbard the brock,
however, hurried to the castle and warned Reynard of the plot. The
crafty fellow went immediately to the court to plead his case before the
king.
On the way he again confessed to the brock that he was guilty of many
sins, but he made them seem mild in comparison with those of the animals
now accusing him. To the king also he confessed that he had sinned, but
he denied the worst of the crimes laid to his doing. His plea was that
he would not have surrendered voluntarily had he been so guilty. His
words were so moving that most of his accusers kept silent, fearing that
the king would again believe Reynard and punish those who would condemn
him. Only the wolf and the bear held fast to their accusations. With the
help of his aunt, the ape, Reynard once more excused himself in the
king's eyes and made the monarch believe that it was the injured who
were the guilty. Again Reynard talked of lost jewels of great value,
jewels which he would search for and present to the king.
Only Isengrim the wolf would not accept Reynard's lies. He challenged
the fox to a fight. Reynard would have been hard put to fight with the
wolf except that Isengrim's feet were still sore from Reynard's taking
of his shoes sometime before. Furthermore, the ape shaved off Reynard's
fur and covered him with oil so that the wolf could not get hold of him.
Even so, Isengrim would have defeated him had he not listened to
Reynard's oily promises of all the rewards Isengrim would receive were
he to let Reynard go. At last the king stopped the fight and ordered all
the animals to a great feast. There he forgave Reynard for all of his
sins after taking the scamp's promise that he would commit no more
crimes against his fellow animals. The king made Reynard high bailiff of
the country, thus setting him above all the others. From that time on
the mighty of the forest would bow to the cunning of the weak.
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Critical Evaluation
Reynard the Fox is classified as a "beast epic." The underlying
framework of this popular medieval literary form is a series of stories
linked by the same characters— invariably, anthropomorphized animals
(hence, "beast epic"). In Reynard the Fox, the character of Reynard
provides the connective thread. The epic designation derives from the
length of the series as well as from the use of typical epic devices
such as the loose, rather episodic relationship among the stories.
Accordingly, most versions of Reynard the Fox are lengthy, and the
episodes are only vaguely related. In addition, the target of such beast
epics is satire of the contemporary social and political scene. Indeed,
Reynard the Fox satirizes human folly, the judicial system, and much
else.
The origin of the form, however, is still subject to scholarly debate.
Since Reynard the Fox is one of the most important examples of this
genre, the debate, in this case, is quite significant. Some scholars
maintain that the beast epic derived from the oral folk tradition of
storytelling, later being formalized in writing by medieval scribes.
Other scholars find precedents among classical Latin authors to explain
the origin of the beast epic. Both schools of thought have defensible
positions, and both take their stand on the same set of facts, since
many versions of the Reynard the Fox stories are extant.
Some basic information emerges from the dispute. First, Ovid's
Metamorphoses (c. A.D. 8) contains stories similar to those in the
Reynard the Fox series. Second, Aesop's Fables includes specific Reynard
episodes. Limited medieval access to such "classical" precedents,
however, renders the influence of these models moot. The earliest
manifestations of Reynard the Fox are stories about the animosity
between Reynard and his enemy, Isengrim the wolf. These stories may be
derived from popular French, English, Dutch, Low German, and Latin
folktales. They seem to have initiated in the Low Countries, northern
France, and northeastern Germany, although precedence cannot be
definitely assigned. The earliest versions were predictably in verse,
although the later redactions appeared in prose.
A rather short poetic rendering of Reynard the Fox stories was done in
medieval Latin by an eighth century cleric, Paulus Diaconus (Paul the
Deacon), from Charlemagne's court. Another medieval Latin version
appeared about two hundred years later in Ecbasis captivi, attributed to
a German monk in Toul. The basic "Isengrim" story—Ysengrimus—is
attributed to Master Nivardus of Ghent, who wrote in Latin at about A.D.
1150, developing his stories from Aesopian fables.
The evolution of vernacular versions is still open to question; some
scholars claim priority for France, and others insist upon Germanic
primacy. The issue has not been resolved, but there is no question that
twelfth and thirteenth century Flanders, West Germany, and northern
France were fertile grounds for this literary form, especially for
Reynard stories.
At approximately the same time that Ysengrimus was produced, there
appeared in France a compilation called the Roman de Renart, from the
hands of several authors (many, according to medieval custom,
anonymous). This vernacular compilation dealt mostly but not exclusively
with stories of the protagonist Reynard facing his antagonist Isengrim
the wolf. The stories are usually arranged in chronological "branches"
(to reflect the time when they were written), rather than in topical
order; unfortunately, this arrangement tends to undermine the
ideological impact of the stories. The didactic element was much
stronger in the almost simultaneous (c. 1180) vernacular redaction of
Heinrich der Glichesare, surviving in an anonymous manuscript written с
1240. Nevertheless, the most important Reynard series seems to be a
Middle Dutch version (c. 1270) by Willem of Hulsterlo, minimizing
Reynard's humanitarian acts (curing the sick lion and the like) while
emphasizing his venality. Willem's version thus exposed Reynard rather
than praised him, and it set the tone for many subsequent vernacular
versions of the stories.
Reynard the Fox appeared in Latin, French, German, Flemish, Dutch and
English versions—testimony to its popularity. It is evident, however,
that questions about origins and the chronological order of various
versions cannot be unequivocally answered with the information at hand.
As is the case with much medieval history and literature, final answers
must wait upon the discovery of further evidence, most likely from a
presently unknown cache of medieval manuscripts—if such a cache exists.
In the meantime, it is still possible to evaluate the extant material on
its own terms, because Reynard the Fox evolved as the archetype of the
beast epic. The central focus of the series is a single significant
episode— Reynard's healing of the sick lion, in most versions— and other
stories are spin-offs from this episode, all involving moralistic
messages. The cast of animals varies from story to story and from
version to version: Fox, lion, and wolf are constants; badger, bear,
stag, rooster, cat, hare, camel, bear, ant, and others appear
occasionally. The didactic factor is another constant, and for the
temper of the times, it is a remarkably pragmatic one.
Indeed, the Reynard series is a lesson in ethics and morality. None of
the animals is a paragon of virtue. All are vulnerable or corruptible or
both; not even King Lion is exempt. They live in a world which
recognizes no moral codes and where survival depends upon wit and
exploitation of others. Isengrim the wolf is doomed because he carries
to extremes his penchant for besting everything and everybody. He is
obsessed by the compulsion to surpass, a compulsion that blinds him to
the necessary humanistic rituals required for survival. By contrast,
Reynard is pliable, adaptable, and fundamentally amoral . He survives
because he is flexible. Yet, in the process, he becomes venal,
power-hungry, and oblivious to humanistic values. Significantly,
Geoffrey Chaucer's "Nun's Priest's Tale" (in The Canterbury Tales,
1387-1400) relates a Reynard story—the fox's attempt and failure to
abduct the rooster Chanticleer—to demonstrate the weakness and the power
of flattery. Reynard's tactics thus become an object lesson in
compromised integrity. Reynard is the ultimate opportunist, knowing no
scruple but his own advancement at the expense of others. To be sure,
Reynard is neither explicitly praised nor explicitly condemned in the
context of medieval ethics or morality. Rather, he is held forth as an
example—albeit, an implicit example of "what not to do." In this sense,
the best didactic functions of the beast epic are upheld. For it is the
didactic element in such works that constitutes their intended impact.
Although scholarly disputes continue about the origins and the
development of the beast epic, in the last analysis the more crucial
point is the moral import of such stories. In this respect, Reynard the
Fox succeeds extremely well.
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Illustrations by
Wilhelm von Kaulbach
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