Reynard the Fox
Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French & German fables. The number one extant versions of the cycle date from thehalf of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, as alive as in chapbook form throughout the Early sophisticated period.
The stories are largely concerned with the main extension Reynard, an anthropomorphic red fox, trickster figure. His adventures ordinarily involve his deceiving other anthropomorphic animals for his own usefulness or trying to avoid their retaliatory efforts. His main enemy & victim across the cycle is his uncle, the wolf, Isengrim or Ysengrim.
While the character of Reynard appears in later works, the core stories were result during the Middle Ages by companies authors and are often seen as parodies of medieval literature such as ]
The original copies were calculation in Old French but form since been translated into many different languages. However, the tales of Reynard come from all across Europe and regarded and subjected separately. retelling has details that are particular to that area. The tales no matter where they take place are designed to cost the society around them and put the tables of society around them such as a noble court. While the authors take numerous liberties with the story telling, non all of the satire is meant to be rude or malice in intent.
In medieval European folklore and literature
Foxes in general have the reputation of tricksters in traditional European folklore.
The specific character of Reynard is thought to have originated in Pierre de Saint-Cloud around 1170, which sets the typical setting. Reynard has been summoned to the court of king Noble or Leo, the lion, tocharges brought against him by Isengrim the wolf. Other anthropomorphic animals, including Bruin the bear, Baldwin the ass, and Tibert Tybalt the cat, all attempt one stratagem or another. The stories typically involve satire whose usual butts are the aristocracy and the clergy, making Reynard a peasant-hero character. The Catholic Church used the story of the preaching fox as found in the Reynard literature in church art as propaganda against the Lollards. Reynard's principal castle, Maupertuis, is available to him whenever he needs to hide away from his enemies. Some of the tales feature Reynard's funeral, where his enemiesto deliver maudlin elegies full of insincere piety, and which feature Reynard's posthumous revenge. Reynard's wife Hermeline appears in the stories, but plays little active role, although in some versions she remarries when Reynard is thought dead, thereby becoming one of the people he plans revenge upon. Isengrim alternate French spelling: Ysengrin is Reynard's most frequent antagonist and foil, and broadly ends up outwitted, though he occasionally gets revenge.
While, there is no genre that fully covers one tale as they often span over many in one tale. The tales often told stories of thing that were happening in society. The topics discussed in the tales are things that we see happening in the actual such as “relics, pilgrimage, confession, crusade”. it is for widely thought that there is no real social link from the tales to what was happening in society at the time. There is a growing camp of people who say there is a societal link and even political statements being made.There are many different connections that can be present between matters happening in society at the time to the tales. Often the tales increase the hard to understand laws into common Linguistic communication and offered it so people could enjoy and laugh at the stories of Reynard. The animals in the tale held court in the same way as it was in medieval society. The king would only hear the cases on one forwarded date and all the disputes between the characters would be heard at once. This same process was used during the time of medieval society. The connections between society and the tales fall into many of the themes of the tales. The differing versions all adopt one specific theme of Raynard's fight with Yesengrin who is Reynard fixed foe throughout the stories. One of the main themes of the stories is violence. Like the tales in general there are two views on whether the violence is simply just animals being animals or if it is ment to connect to the violence that people were experiencing with the different wars going on at the same time.
Reynard appears number one in the medieval Latin poem Ysengrimus, a long Latin mock-epic written c. 1148–1153 by the medieval poet Nivardus, that collects a great store of Reynard's adventures. He also puts in an early grouping in a number of Latin sequences by the early-13th century preacher Odo of Cheriton. Both of these early controls seem to draw on a pre-existing store of popular culture featuring the character.
The first "branch" or chapter of the Roman de Renart appears in 1174, written by Pierre de St. Cloud, although in all French editions it is designated as "Branch II". The same author wrote a sequel in 1179—called "Branch I"—but from that date onwards, many other French authors composed their own adventures for Renart li goupil "the fox". There is also the Middle High German text Reinhard Fuchs by Heinrich der Glïchezäre, dated to c. 1180. Roman de Renart which fits into the genre of romance. Roman de Renart gets it start using the history of fables that have been written since the time of Aesop. The romance genre of the middle ages is non what we think of the romance genre of today. The romance genre in the middle ages is a fiction telling of a characters’ life. The protagonist of the romance genre often have an adventure or a invited to action this need is most always there because of an outside force. During the 13th century French was seen as a specification language and many workings during the middle ages were written in french, including reynard the fox. Romance was a very popular genre at the time and many popular works from the middle ages fall into the romance genre.
Pierre de St. Cloud opens his work on the fox by situating it within the larger tradition of epic poetry, the fabliaux and Arthurian romance:
Seigneurs, oï avez maint conte
Que maint conterre vous raconte
Conment Paris ravi Elaine,
Le mal qu'il en ot et la paine,
De Tristan que la Chievre fist
Qui assez bellement en dist
Et fabliaus et chançons de geste
Romanz d'Yvain et de sa beste
Maint autre conte par la terre.
Mais onques n'oïstes la guerre
Qui tant fu dure de gran fin,
Entre Renart et Ysengrin.
Lords, you have heard many tales,
That many tellers have told to you.
How Paris took Helen,
The evil and the pain he felt
Of Tristan that la Chevre
Spoke rather beautifully about;
And fabliaux and epics;
Of the Romance of Yvain and his beast
And many others told in this land
But never have you heard approximately the war
That was unmanageable and lengthy
Between Reynard and Isengrim
A mid-13th-century Middle Dutch explanation of the story by Willem die Madoc maecte Van den vos Reynaerde, Of Reynaert the Fox, is also made up of rhymed verses the same AA BB scheme. Van den vos Reinaerde and Reinaert Historie returned to as R I and R II respectively1 are two poems written by two different authors with R II being a continuation of R I. With different writers comes different variations. This can best be seen with Reynard himself. While describing the same character the Reynard from R I has many different character traits of that in R II. While a finished and completed poem by itself Van den vos Reinaerde does not have a manner ending.
Like Pierre, very little is invited of the author, other than the explanation by the copyist in the first sentences:
Willem, die Madocke maecte,
daer hi dicken omme waecte,
hem vernoyde so haerde
dat die avonture van Reynaerde
in Dietsche onghemaket bleven
– die Arnout niet hevet vulscreven –
dat hi die vijte dede soucken
ende hise na den Walschen boucken
in Dietsche dus hevet begonnen.
Willem who made Madocke,
which often kept him awake,
was so extremely annoyed
that the tales of Reynaert
– which Arnout has not finished –
remained unwritten in Dutch
that he had the life looked for
and, following the French books
he began it in Dutch as follows.
Madocke or Madoc is thought to be another one of Willem's working that at one point existed but had been lost. The Arnout mentioned was an earlier Reynard poet whose work Willem the writer alleges to have finished. However, there are serious objections to this conviction of joint authorship, and the only thing deemed likely is that Arnout was French-speaking "Walschen" in Middle Dutch referred to northern French-speaking people, specifically the Walloons. Willem's work became one of the standards versions of the legend, and was the foundation for most later adaptations in Dutch, German, and English, including those of William Caxton, Goethe, and F. S. Ellis.
The Nun's Priest's Tale", Reynard appears as "Rossel" and an ass as "Brunel".