Van den vos Reynaerde

by Unknown

Het Middelnederlandse Reinaert-verhaal werd naar alle waarschijnlijkheid rond 1180 geschreven. Uit deze tijd is echter geen handschrift bewaard gebleven; de oudste overgeleverde tekstgedeelten zijn te vinden in enkele handschriftfragmenten uit de 13e eeuw. De volledige versie van het verhaal is aan ons overgeleverd in twee handschriften van rond 1400.

Dierenverhalen en sprookjes met dieren in de hoofdrol waren al vroeg in de Middeleeuwen erg geliefd. De oudste op schrift gestelde dierenverhalen zijn in het Latijn geschreven, maar uit de twaalfde eeuw zijn ook een aantal Franse dierdichten bekend die later werden verzameld in de Roman de Renart.

De inhoud van een van deze Franse verhalen, Li Plaid, is in grote lijnen gelijk aan de eerste helft van onze Reinaert. Het tweede deel wijkt echter af van het Franse voorbeeld. De Middelnederlandse voortzetting heeft een - psychologisch beschouwd - sterkere voortzetting.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, School, Dutch Literature, Fantasy, Literature, Poetry

127 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1250

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Unknown" when the author or editor (as applicable) is not known and cannot be discovered. If at all possible, list at least one actual author or editor for a book instead of using "Unknown".

Books whose authorship is purposefully withheld should be attributed instead to Anonymous.

Reviews

[Olivera · Rating 2 out of 5]

Who on earth made a cutesy kiddy cover for this thing? Reynard the Fox is literally a slasher, sociopath version of Robin Hood on crack cocaine.

[David Dinaburg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine you have the chance to read a story that was such a cultural touchstone nearly everyone who could read had read it. A story that was once so popular that it integrated itself into the very essence of language. A story that isn't the bible; one of which you've probably never heard, let alone read:

The Reynard literary material was so popular in medieval France that the French word for “fox” changed from “goupil” to “reynard” (the word still used in French for “fox”).

I chose to verify this fact independently because, although it was presented to me in a footnote—the socially agreed-upon signal that it comes from the author and not the narrator, who may be unreliable—it is exactly the type of thing Reynard the fox would fabricate. To inflate his own importance. To...leverage later. Somehow. I’m not sure, but surely Reynard would be. He’s a liar and a cheat and an absolute scourge, but reading about him and his antics is fascinating.

The simple answer to why this is a delight to read revolves around the fact that all the other creatures he menaces earn their mistreatment through greed or cruelty or malice; there is no redemption here, only corruption. Reynard doesn’t rise above but wallows in the courtly intrigue, so the morality play isn’t one of being a good person in the face of adversity. It condemns the royal court whole cloth; the only way to get ahead is to play the game better than your adversary, turning the whole institution a nest of vipers that grows ever better a tearing down their fellows.

The most amazing fact is that these stories had such cultural cachet—gripped so many minds so strongly—that the word for “fox” changed. I cannot...I dunno, I guess it’s like a meme-speak shortcut that gets codified into the real language. For everyone. Forever. That boggles the mind. Maybe if all bands became known as "beatles" that might analogize the massive impact these stories had on an entire culture. “Hey dude, I’m going to see Future Islands tonight, they’re such a good beatles it is totes swag. Can I get a ride?”

Reynard is dated to about the twelfth century: the stories were likely written before the Magna Carta. Yup. Yup. That can sink in for a minute. Okay, with a near-millennia in mind, consider that I often call the plot of Lord of the Rings stilted and old-fashioned. It is ponderous and it is only fiftyish years old; Reynard predates it by nearly eight hundred years and is paced so well that the pages fly past. It would have been serendipitous to say that Reynard is older than Gandalf, but I googled Gandalf’s age and—holy shit. That’s the impact. “I googled it.” Searching on the internet is called “googling” by everyone not employed by Microsoft or Yahoo. That’s the ubiquity level of Reynard; over 9000! Google.

And the stories are still fun to read:

Listen to the way in which the fox flatters the King and the Queen, and how he wins their goodwill and love. Listen also how he blocks those who work for his death. He’ll unpack his bag of tricks by flattery, and lie with seductive words. He’ll make it seem as if everything he said should be taken as gospel truth.

Simply put, Reynard is great in and of itself, and breathtaking to imagine the generations upon generations of humans that have already read and enjoyed these stories. With the incredibly accessible translation and short length, there is no reason not to be reading it right now. It’s like the bible, but fun. That is a real miracle, and one that simply cannot be replaced.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was expecting a typical folk tale, but instead I got Reynard the Fox, a worthy rival to Machiavelli. From criminal to king, he makes Robin Hood look like an idiot.

[Céleste · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dat deze vos in kinderboeken soms liefkozend Reintje wordt genoemd, is meer dan onterecht. Geef Reintje een flinke dosis crack en hij verandert in een ware psychopaat, in Reinaert de Vos. Wie heden ten dage een dergelijk verhaal schrijft, zou met aan zekerheid grenzende waarschijnlijkheid gelyncht worden door het grote publiek (de literatuurbarbaren). Een verfilming zou het witte doek niet halen, zo grof en cru als de passages zijn. Dat dit het grootste literaire werk uit de middeleeuwse literatuur is, is geloof ik meer dan terecht. Vol erotiek en zwarte humor. Helemaal mijn ding. Goed begin van mijn jaar.

"Reinaert heeft wel erg weinig swag", las ik ergens. En daar ben ik het niet mee eens. Reinaert is gruwelijk.

[Nour (FREE PALESTINE) Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

fox version of kaz brekker

voor mijn literatuurlijst

[Thibault Busschots · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reynard the Fox is a clever satire. The animals as characters provide us with a cool and playful way to take a critical look at medieval Europe.


I pretty much learned about this story from comic books when I was a kid. So I imagined it to be a bit more kid friendly. That’s so not the case. It’s quite brutal and ruthless. It’s more like the medieval version of the 1995 movie Seven, where things like gluttony and greed are severely punished. It must have had quite the draw back in the day when people went from village to village to tell this story. Also quite fascinating to know is the reason why the original story and others like it from this time are composed of rhymes. This was done because these storytellers would memorize the entire story and perform it by heart. And rhyming made that task a little less daunting.


This is a good reminder that history is more than just the boring bits I learned about in school. History can be really fun and interesting, and this is a great example of just that.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Think Quentin Tarantino writing Loony Tunes and you are there! Animal fables have always forced us to collectively address issues that we are uncomfortable addressing; almost as if by attributing our thoughts and feelings to animals it provides the requisite distance we need to 'see' what we are doing wrong. Excellent translation of this classic that is easy to follow.

[Manon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hoe onverwacht het voor mij ook mocht zijn: Van den vos Reynaerde is hét toonbeeld van donkere humor: heerlijk wreed, bruut en ietwat absurd. De lange redevoeringen moet je erbij nemen, maar sorry, een vos die pist op een wolf tijdens een duel vriendin ik WEEN

[Gijs · Rating 4 out of 5]

dit is geweldig. dikke shoutout naar cantecleer de haan en bruun de beer. wat een ellende in het rijk van koning leeuw

[Logan Plonski · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first started reading this book, I was expecting something more along the lines of a typical folk tale, where a flawed character gets its comeuppance at the hands of a lovable rogue. I was unprepared for the manipulative and bloodthirsty Reynard, who frequently enacted grevious harm on completely innocent animals. By the time I finished reading it, I realized that Reynard wasn't the hero, but was representative of the kind of person to watch out for in politics and in your daily life. This beautiful edition was lovingly translated and illustrated to bring this cultural phenomenon back into the lives of modern society.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of stories evaluates the struggle between good and evil, right and wrong with hypocritical dark humor. Similar to Briar Rabbit and Aseop's Fables.

[Pauline · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terwijl ik dit was aan het lezen kon Reinaert zijn Pelgrimstocht al 2x doen.😭

[Jip · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
echt gegiecheld, ik sta aan reynaerts kant he did nothing wrong

[Renske]

10 Euro voor de persoon met een goed idee voor een essay over de rol van natuur of gender.

[Gijs Grob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Satirisch lang gedicht over de sluwe vos Reynaert, die voor het gerecht wordt gedaagd, maar met zijn leugens niet alleen zichzelf redt van de doodstraf, maar ook zijn vijanden, door hebzucht verblind, in het verderf stort.

Dit nog opvallend spannend en humoristisch geschreven en zeer goed getimed gedicht is eigenlijk de middeleeuwse equivalent van het rechtsdrama. Iedere moraal ontbreekt echter: Reynaert is een opvallend immoreel (en ongestraft!) personage, de tekst zit vol nogal brute erotiek en geweld en het zijn vooral de gezaghebbers (de edelen en geestelijken) die flink op de hak worden genomen. Merkwaardig is dat de antropomorfe dieren zich als gewone dieren gedragen, zodra er mensen in het spel zijn.

Het Middelnederlands (in het boek zelf 'Diets' geheten) leest niet gemakkelijk (hoewel hardop lezen helpt), maar er zitten leuke aan Duits (bijv. sonder [maar]) en Engels verwante woorden in (bijv. engine (gemakkelijk), gehidet (verborgen) en cuwaert (lafaard)) en de schrijver is oprecht erg grappig.

Een buitengewoon uitgebreide en levendige uitleg door ene F. Lulofs (o.a. over het middeleeuwse rechtsysteem) helpt dit 800 jaar oude werkje als onverouderde topliteratuur te waarderen. Aanbevolen!

[The goblin queen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darker than expected but still a good story.

[Matthieu Wegh · Rating 3 out of 5]

? Ik was nieuwsgierig naar deze klassieker.
🤔Aardig verhaal over een sluwe vos die mensen bedriegt gebruik makende van hun zwakheden en goedgelovigheid.
MW 10/5/21

[Jennifer Hensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wie denkt dat vroeger alles braver was heeft het mis: dit middeleeuwse verhaal is niet geschikt voor tere zieltjes. Reinaert is eigenlijk gewoon rijp voor de tbs-kliniek.

[demi fiore · Rating 1 out of 5]

*1,75

I hate books that I have to read for school. This was boring and weird. That’s the review.

[James Steele · Rating 5 out of 5]

"High and mighty prince, my lord King, I beg this of you: that by your great power, justice, and mercy, you'll pity me, given the seriousness of the crimes that Reynard the Fox has committed against me and my wife. He entered my house against my wife's will, and relieved himself on my children so as to blind them!"

Talk about setting the tone.

Thus begins the misdeeds of Reynard, a thief, murderer, and overall horrible fox who manages to butter up to just the right people in high places to escape the consequences for his many crimes.

"Dear nephew, men must now lie here, and tell the truth there. They have to flatter, threaten, beg, and curse. They must attack their opponent's weakest point. Whoever intends to prosper in the world without composing a beautiful lie, without wrapping it and hiding it so that men take it for truth, won't escape servitude. If a man is so subtle as not to stammer when he's being heard, nephew, he can work wonders. He'll wear scarlet and fur, he'll win in both canon and civil law and wherever he has business to do."

...

"There are many treacherous people now who want to hold on to their advantages. They think they know how to lie well and they presume to lie. Such people prefer to eat of the juiciest morsels, but they aren't trusted or heard out. And there are many who are so fat and foolish that they lose their grip on the task in hand, when it comes to making a concluding argument. They can't help themselves, and leave their legal case without top or bottom. Such a person is considered a fool and there are many who laugh at him. But the man who can supply a fit conclusion to his lie, and express it without faltering, as if it were all written out in front of him, and can blind his listeners so that his lie is taken for truth-now, that's your man."

...

"I don't deny that men must trick, play, and lie in small matters, for whoever always says the truth never prospers in the world at all. There are many who say whatever their masters want to hear. Whoever always tells the truth will find many obstacles. Men can lie when they need to and afterwards correct the matter by skill. Mercy is available for all sins. No man is so wise that he never makes a mistake."

Our antihero knows he has done all of these horrible things, but he justifies them as what it takes to survive and thrive.

You replied that you'd eaten so many fish in the well's water that your stomach was about to burst. I said: 'Tell me how I can join you.' To which you replied: 'Aunt, just jump into the bucket hanging there and you'll be with me in a jiffy.' "So I jumped in and down I went, while you came up. I was furious, but you said: 'So it goes in the world: up comes one as another goes down.' Then you sprang out and went your way, leaving me sitting there alone, sitting for a whole day hungry and cold. I endured many a blow before I could escape."

One cannot move up in the world without taking someone else down. Cynical observations about how politics works. Virtuous people get trampled while flatterers who cozy up to people in high places rise up, framing the victims of their crimes as the real criminals. Victims who lost skin and limbs only to be treated as criminals because of their injuries.

So Reynard manages to flatter the king and queen and make the victims of his crimes seem like the real criminals. Luckily, our fox also happens to have a friend in a high place, who massages the nobility with sweet-sounding words and stories to distract from the real issues. Reynard has many stories to tell which appeal to the king’s greed and desire for power and favor.

But eventually the Wolf, Reynard’s victim throughout all the years, manages to challenge him to a trial by combat. The fox wins by flattery and promises, gaining an edge on his opponent, and earning the respect of the monarchy.

So the following also came to the fox, all because he'd won: the beaver, the otter, and both their wives Pantecroet and Ordegale, the stoat, the martin, the polecat, the ferret, the mouse, the squirrel, and many more than I can name. Some even came who'd earlier laid charges against the fox. They were now among his closest kin and were extremely friendly toward him. So goes the world these days: whoever is powerful and at the top of Fortune's wheel has many kinsmen and friends, while the indigent and suffering person finds but few friends and insmen. Almost every man avoids his company.

Thus a cheater prospers and gains allies while his victims suffer.

Reality is an unjust place. Reynard represents exactly what’s wrong with society the world over—how unsavory people get ahead and trample everyone they leave behind. How having friends in high places is more valuable than having the truth on one’s side. I was engrossed, wondering what awful things this fox will do and how he could possibly get away with all of them. How easily the upper classes are duped into believing flattery and lies.

Medieval folktales hit hard even today.

[Eef Pannekoeke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ik beeld me Reynaert altijd in als Mr. Fox van Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox

[dearsatoru · Rating 1 out of 5]

Echt een stink boek super stom ik wil 0 sterren geven maar kan niet 🖕🖕🖕🖕🤬🤬😡😡🤬🤬 stom boek

[Alex van Duijvenvoorde · Rating 4 out of 5]

1e klas smeerpijp.

Heerlijk

[Casper Van Waesberghe · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Alle dieren stonden / even met hun monden, / muil of bekken open: / dat zo iets verlopen / kon! Dat recht en wetten / zo opzij gezet en / blijkbaar zonder reden / heel dat slecht verleden / zo werd witgewassen , / ja, dat men ging dreigen / dat zij moesten zwijgen / over al die dingen / scheen niet door te dringen / tot hun beestenbrein."

Heel blij dat ik eindelijk eens een hertaling (één van de zovelen) heb gelezen van deze ultieme klassieker. Niet alleen omdat een zekere trots op mijn halve Waaslandse roots naar boven komt als ik bekende plaatsnamen zie passeren, maar ook omdat een tekst na een ruime 750 jaar nog steeds zo tot de verbeelding kan spreken. Het eeuwige mysterie dat rond de auteur hangt intrigeert direct, maar het is de evenwichtige maar toch onvoorspelbare opbouw dat het verhaal tot op het eind kan dragen.

Hoe de leefwereld van een middeleeuwse vos toch meteen zo herkenbaar kan zijn is ronduit bijzonder, zij het een tikkeltje gewelddadig soms. En uiteindelijk is er niemand 'goed': Reynaert is moordlustig, Nobel is gierig en lui, Bruin de Beer bekent machtswellust en gulzigheid, en de Wolf Isengrin is al even achterbaks als de vos zelf. Enkel Tybeert de Kat en Grimbert de Das zijn personages die nog ietwat sympathie opwekken, maar dat is niet genoeg om te overleven in een onverschillige wereld.

Voer voor een al eeuwendurende fascinatie? Ik denk terecht.

Volgende keer lees ik eens de Middelnederlandse versie. Terugkomen doe ik zeker.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

After finishing this book, I'm not sure who the intended is that the author & publisher had in mind. The plot is quite simple and all the characters are woodland animals, so the book definitely seems like it should be for children. But the satire on political power and the gullibility of those who have more greed that good sense is certainly geared toward a more adult readership; and the violent parts -- such as when a bear get his head stuck in a tree and ends up tearing all of the skin off of it while pulling it out, or when a wolf is beaten so badly that an eyeball comes out of its socket --, I have no idea whom those are for.

In the end, it was a quick read, and I give the translator a lot of credit: the style of writing had a certain unusual tone to it, which both emphasized the unfamiliar aspect of the work to me, and made the act of reading it a very unique-feeling experience. And while it was frustrating to see these animals fall victim to the fox's lies over and over again (a circumstance which also diminished any narrative suspense that might otherwise have existed), Reynard the Fox was still a pleasure to read and I'm glad to have picked it up.

[José Van Rosmalen · Rating 4 out of 5]

De beroemde middeleeuwse dichter Willem - die Madoc maakte, tekende het verhaal op van Reinaert de Vos, het slimme en gemene dier dat andere dieren belazerde en voor zijn karretje spande nu eens met geweld, dan weer door te slijmen en te flemen. In de tijd dat Willem dit schreef konden de meeste mensen niet lezen. Ze luisterden naar voordrachten op pleinen en in kroegen. Daarom was het rijm zo belangrijk en de cadans als je het hardop voorlas.
Dit middelnederlands is voor de moderne lezer niet erg toegankelijk. De spelling is anders, veel woorden kennen we niet meer.
In 1979 maakte Ernst van Altena een hertaling, waarin het rijm en de cadans bewaard bleven. Hij deed dit zeker niet op een preutse manier, het gaat om een volks en hier en daar plat en rauw episch gedicht. De streken van de vos en zijn vele slachtoffers, zoals de beer Bruin worden plastisch en beeldend beschreven. De tekeningen van Bert Bouwman bieden een waardevolle toevoeging. De dierfiguren zullen de luisteraars ongetwijfeld aan mensen hebben doen denken.
Door de hertaling is het lange gedicht veel toegankelijker geworden.

[Sprocket Doggingsworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

While everyone else focuses on the content in their comments, I want to take a moment to talk about James Simpson's translation.

It's positively delightful.

Reynard is supposed to be funny. The original audience laughed out loud when they read these tales, (or heard them told). James Simpson smartly emphasizes humor in this translation, and in doing so, stays truer to the spirit of these tales than other translations that are driven by linguistic purism.

[Justin Howe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like a Disney cartoon directed by Sam Peckinpah.

[✨ Lotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

*4.5 stars*

[Sofie · Rating 4 out of 5]

{obligatory reading}

Reynaert: everybody's favourite villain since the Middle Ages.