![]() The continuous narrative characteristic of the Reynard material begins, however, with the The Escape of the Captive (or Ecbasis Captivi, mid-eleventh century) and is greatly developed in the Ysengrimus (1148-49)-an important source for the earliest branches of the French Roman de Renart. The Reynardian stories derive from the much older Aesopian tradition: one of its central stories, the tale of the sick lion, in which the fox tricks the wolf, appears in Aesop. We learn a fundamental truth from these stories: both animals and humans are predatory and self-interested, and will, if necessary, exercise cunning in order to serve their own ends. He exposes the arrogance of the greedy, but even more damagingly the hypocrisy of the “civilized” order. He escapes through brilliant narrative control and intimate, intuitive knowledge of his enemies’ weaknesses. ![]() No matter how tight the corner into which Reynard has been backed, we know he will escape. Beast epic presents narratives of dark but vital humor that repeat the same narrative with many variations: its rhetorically brilliant fox Reynard outwits all comers by manipulating their bottomless greed. Beast epic, by contrast, is a group of interconnected narratives, set in the court of the lion its single (anti-)hero is Reynard the Fox. do not over eat do not overreach save up for the hard times justice can be rough and ready, so keep clear of the predators). Such stories were used to teach schoolboys both Latin and some common-sense morality into the bargain (e.g. mice, lambs, cocks, foxes, birds, wolves, lions, and frogs). They are small narratives in which animals act and speak, with even smaller morals tacked on at the end of the little stories. Animal fables claim Aesop as their source. Medieval literature abounds in stories about animals, of which there are two main, easily distinguished, varieties: animal fables and beast epic.
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