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The History of Reynard the Fox
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This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
306 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1481
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 13, 2019
"And this booke is maad for nede and prouffyte of all god folke / As fer as they in redynge or heeryng of it shall mowe vnderstande and fele the forsayd subtyl deceytes that dayly ben vsed in the worlde / not to thentente that men shold eschewe and kepe hym from the subtyl and false shrewis that they be not deceyuyd." And so begins William Caxton's 1481 translation of the medieval beast epic concerning Reynard the Fox, in which the cunning vulpine hero triumphs over his enemy, Isegrim the Wolf, and is twice exonerated in the court of King Noble the Lion, despite overwhelming odds against him. The moral ambiguity of the tale is early hinted at, in the introductory passage quoted above, as Caxton (and presumably his source before him, the Dutchman Gheraert Leeu), directs his readers toward the 'correct' interpretation of the tale: i.e. that it provides a warning about the cunning villains in this world, who, like Reynard, use their subtle wiles to manipulate others and get their way. And Reynard is certainly a master manipulator! His unerring sense of what tack to use, in persuading others to do as he wishes, makes for a number of humorous passages.
Caxton's Reynard is an important book for many reasons. It represents the first time that the full history of Reynard, which originally appeared in the mid-twelfth century in the Latin poem The Ysengrimus, before making its way into the French (Le Roman de Renart), German (Reinhart Fuchs) and Dutch (Reynaert de Vos) traditions, appeared in English. Although certain elements of the story had appeared before - the story of Reynard and Chanticleer can be found in Chaucer's The Nun's Priest's Tale of the Cock and the Fox, in his The Canterbury Tales , and there is a Middle English poem, The Fox and the Wolf, which contains some of Reynard and Isegrim's rivalry - Caxton marks the point at which Reynard's full story enters the English language. The book is also significant because it was one of the earliest printed books in English. Caxton was the first to use the printing press for English language work, beginning in 1473, so his Reynard was created as part of a revolutionary new development in English letters. It is also significant because it was written at a time of great change in the English language itself, coming at the end of the medieval and dawn of the modern periods in England, as Middle English was giving way to its modern descendent.
As a contemporary reader, I sometimes found the language here challenging. It is less familiar than Shakespeare's English, but more intelligible that Chaucer's (naturally). Fortunately, the edition I read, printed in 1970 by Oxford University Press, included a glossary at the rear. Certain archaic words, such as 'dasse,' the old word for a badger, greatly appealed to me! Other words were borrowed by Caxton from his Dutch original, the prose Die Historie van Reynaert de Vos. Although not a text I used directly for my dissertation on children's retellings of Reynard, this was (of course) my starting point, in terms of my more general research into Reynard in English. I'm not sure to whom I would recommend it. Reynard lovers, obviously. Also, perhaps, to those interested in early modern English texts.
Caxton's Reynard is an important book for many reasons. It represents the first time that the full history of Reynard, which originally appeared in the mid-twelfth century in the Latin poem The Ysengrimus, before making its way into the French (Le Roman de Renart), German (Reinhart Fuchs) and Dutch (Reynaert de Vos) traditions, appeared in English. Although certain elements of the story had appeared before - the story of Reynard and Chanticleer can be found in Chaucer's The Nun's Priest's Tale of the Cock and the Fox, in his The Canterbury Tales , and there is a Middle English poem, The Fox and the Wolf, which contains some of Reynard and Isegrim's rivalry - Caxton marks the point at which Reynard's full story enters the English language. The book is also significant because it was one of the earliest printed books in English. Caxton was the first to use the printing press for English language work, beginning in 1473, so his Reynard was created as part of a revolutionary new development in English letters. It is also significant because it was written at a time of great change in the English language itself, coming at the end of the medieval and dawn of the modern periods in England, as Middle English was giving way to its modern descendent.
As a contemporary reader, I sometimes found the language here challenging. It is less familiar than Shakespeare's English, but more intelligible that Chaucer's (naturally). Fortunately, the edition I read, printed in 1970 by Oxford University Press, included a glossary at the rear. Certain archaic words, such as 'dasse,' the old word for a badger, greatly appealed to me! Other words were borrowed by Caxton from his Dutch original, the prose Die Historie van Reynaert de Vos. Although not a text I used directly for my dissertation on children's retellings of Reynard, this was (of course) my starting point, in terms of my more general research into Reynard in English. I'm not sure to whom I would recommend it. Reynard lovers, obviously. Also, perhaps, to those interested in early modern English texts.
June 11, 2018
історія про лиса рейнарда викликає в мене багато асоціацій.
наприклад, із грою з глибокого дитинства під кодовою назвою «без юмора и брака» – уявлення про прекрасне тут перебувають приблизно на тому самому рівні. і про гумор, зрештою, теж. середньовічні історії могли б користуватися скаженою популярністю в дітей молодшого шкільного віку (утім, воно так і є – тільки їх зазвичай підчищають і опристойнюють, а дарма).
або з політичними подіями. або зі станом суспільної комунікації. одне слово, актуальність хорошої соціальної сатири не зникає – просто трансформується.
наприклад, із грою з глибокого дитинства під кодовою назвою «без юмора и брака» – уявлення про прекрасне тут перебувають приблизно на тому самому рівні. і про гумор, зрештою, теж. середньовічні історії могли б користуватися скаженою популярністю в дітей молодшого шкільного віку (утім, воно так і є – тільки їх зазвичай підчищають і опристойнюють, а дарма).
або з політичними подіями. або зі станом суспільної комунікації. одне слово, актуальність хорошої соціальної сатири не зникає – просто трансформується.
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January 14, 2021Going through the furry canon - #7
- Physiologus, the first known text to turn animals into allegories. Written in Greek in Alexandria in the second or third century CE, the Physiologus was a "bestseller" that was translated into most of the major languages of Europe and western Asia; it is said that it was the most widely-distributed book in Europe after the Bible. Thus we see that the cultural image of a trickster fox was between the first things to be printed.
When placing this book on the bigger literary tapestry, one may point out that Reynard the Fox is the furry Odysseus, someone we celebrate due to his cleverness. Reynard uses it to do evil deeds, however, and lie, cheat, rape, murder and assault; in this way he's a precursor of Machiavelli's scandalous book The Prince, but whereas Machiavelli advices the royalty, Reynard advices the common man against it, and for that reason we cheer him on.
Reynard is a direct follow up of Aesop's Fables, quoting them, evolving them and giving them complexity until they become an epic.
Animal stories generally tend to work in two basic ways: they suggest either that animals are like humans, or that humans are like animals. When the animals are like humans, the stories are often cute and for kids, while when humans are like animals, then the stories offer dark accounts of how humans are savage, and tend to be for adults. In this spectrum Reynard falls into the adult category, but whereas other dark animal tales fill us with horror, Reynard makes us laugh.
Reynard satirizes every type of storytelling that had been developed thus far; he makes stories of the classical narrative of the Trojan War, medieval romances, animal fables and previous animal epics of Reynard himself. Each of these narratives, from the entire gamut of improving literature, is designed to teach a moral lesson. Each is manipulated by Reynard to neutralize ethics and to escape justice. The important lesson offered by literature is not, by this account, truth, but rhetorical skill in avoiding truth.
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Previous entries in my search for the furry canon:
Aesop Fables
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Anonymous Rex
Waterways
"Though they have no red beards, yet there ben founden
more foxes now than ever were heretofore."
‘Thus fareth the world, that one goeth up and another goeth down.’
"The fox is an entirely deceitful animal who plays tricks. If he is hungry and finds nothing to eat, he seeks out a rubbish pit [where there is red earth and rolls in it so that he appears bloodied all over; he then throws himself down and rolls over as though dead]. Then, throwing himself on his back, he stares upwards, draws in his breath, and thoroughly bloats himself up. Now the birds, thinking the fox dead, descend upon him to devour him. But he stretches out and seizes them, and the birds themselves die a miserable death. [The fox is a figure of the devil. To those who live according to the flesh he pretends to be dead. Although he may hold sinners within his gullet, to spiritual men and those perfected in faith, however, he is dead and reduced to nothing.] The devil is, in fact, utterly dead as is the effect of his work. Whoever wishes to partake of his flesh will die, for his flesh is made of fornication, greed, desire, and hostile times [cf.Matt.15:19]. For this reason Herod is likened to a fox[cf.Lk.13:32]. And the scribe heard the Savior say, "The foxes have holes" [Matt.8:20]. And in the Song of Songs, "Catch us the little foxes that spoil the vineyards" [SoofS.2:15]. And David in Psalm 62 said, "They shall be prey for foxes" [Ps.63:10]. Physiologus, therefore, spoke wisely of the fox."
- Physiologus, the first known text to turn animals into allegories. Written in Greek in Alexandria in the second or third century CE, the Physiologus was a "bestseller" that was translated into most of the major languages of Europe and western Asia; it is said that it was the most widely-distributed book in Europe after the Bible. Thus we see that the cultural image of a trickster fox was between the first things to be printed.
When placing this book on the bigger literary tapestry, one may point out that Reynard the Fox is the furry Odysseus, someone we celebrate due to his cleverness. Reynard uses it to do evil deeds, however, and lie, cheat, rape, murder and assault; in this way he's a precursor of Machiavelli's scandalous book The Prince, but whereas Machiavelli advices the royalty, Reynard advices the common man against it, and for that reason we cheer him on.
Reynard is a direct follow up of Aesop's Fables, quoting them, evolving them and giving them complexity until they become an epic.
Animal stories generally tend to work in two basic ways: they suggest either that animals are like humans, or that humans are like animals. When the animals are like humans, the stories are often cute and for kids, while when humans are like animals, then the stories offer dark accounts of how humans are savage, and tend to be for adults. In this spectrum Reynard falls into the adult category, but whereas other dark animal tales fill us with horror, Reynard makes us laugh.
Reynard satirizes every type of storytelling that had been developed thus far; he makes stories of the classical narrative of the Trojan War, medieval romances, animal fables and previous animal epics of Reynard himself. Each of these narratives, from the entire gamut of improving literature, is designed to teach a moral lesson. Each is manipulated by Reynard to neutralize ethics and to escape justice. The important lesson offered by literature is not, by this account, truth, but rhetorical skill in avoiding truth.
---------------------------------------------------
Previous entries in my search for the furry canon:
Aesop Fables
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Anonymous Rex
Waterways
December 31, 2017
Read this because it was mentioned in Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children's Literature as an Adult by Bruce Handy.
Not sure I found the exact match here on Goodreads though. My copy was translated and printed by William Caxton in 1481. LC # 60-5884.
Not sure I found the exact match here on Goodreads though. My copy was translated and printed by William Caxton in 1481. LC # 60-5884.
September 29, 2016
Probably the wrong version
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