Raginhard was a man’s name, meaning “strong in counsel,” and was common in Germany which bordered on France.  This name naturally was given to the beast who lived by his wits.  Grimm considered Reynard the result of a Teutonic Beast Epic of primitive origin.  Later research has exploded this theory and has decided that all versions are descended from an original French one existing between 1150 and 1170.  Modern editions have come from the Flemish version.  The literary artist who compiled Reynard took a nucleus of fables and added to it folk-tales which are known to have existed in the eleventh and twelfth centuries and which exist to-day as tradition among some folk.  The folk-tales included in Reynard are:  Reynard and Dame Wolf; The Iced Wolf’s Tail; The Fishes in the Car; The Bear in the Cleft; The Wolf as Bell-Ringer; and The Dyed Fox.  The method of giving individual names to the animals such as Reynard, Bruin, and Tibert, was current among the Folk before a literary form was given to Reynard.  As this was the custom in the province of Lorraine it is supposed that the origin of these names was in Lorraine.  Other names, such as Chanticleer, the Cock, and Noble, the Lion, were given because of a quality, and indicate a tendency to allegory.  These names increase in the later development of the romance.  In the beginning when the beasts had only personal adventures, these were told by the Folk to raise a laugh.  Later there was a meaning underneath the laugh and the Beast Epic Comedy of the Folk grew into the world Beast Satire of the literary artist.

Reynard exhibits the bare struggle for existence which was generally characteristic of Feudal life.  Cunning opposes force and triumphs over it.  The adventurous hero appeals because of his faculty of adjustment, his power to adapt himself to circumstances and to master them.  He also appeals because of his small size when compared with the other animals.  In the Middle Ages Reynard appealed because it was a satire upon the monks.  Of Reynard Carlyle has said, “It comes before us with a character such as can belong only to very few; that of being a true World’s Book which through centuries was everywhere at home, the spirit of which diffused itself into all languages and all minds.”

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About one tenth of European folk-lore is traced to collections used in the Middle Ages:  Fables of Bidpai, Seven Wise Masters, Gesta Romanorum, and Barlaam and Josophat.  These tales became diffused through the Exempla of the monks, used in their sermons, through the Novelle of Italy, the Decameron of Boccaccio, the Tales of Chaucer, Painter’s Palace of Pleasure, and the Elizabethan