Van den vos Reinaerde

work by Willem

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July 14, 2026

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Van den vos Reinaerde is a 13th-century Flemish beast epic, a literary genre that uses animal characters to satirize human society. The work is a version of the Reynard the Fox tales, which originated between Flanders and Germany in the 10th and 11th centuries.12

In these tales, Reynard, a cunning and amoral fox, often outwits stronger, less intelligent animals like the wolf Isengrim. The stories, likely adapted from a lost French poem, were influential, with Willem's Flemish adaptations serving as sources for later Dutch and German prose versions. The popularity of these tales led to the word "renard" (fox) replacing the older French word for fox. Jan Frans Willems published a modern Dutch rendering of Van den vos Reinaerde in 1834.13

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Jan Frans Willems
…of the 13th-century beast epic Van den vos Reinaerde (1834; “About Reynard the Fox”); this work, with its epoch-making introduction amounting to a pro-Flemish manifesto, was followed in 1836 by a scholarly edition that gave him an international audience. In 1835 he moved to Ghent, where he became active as…
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…of the 13th-century beast epic Van den vos Reinaerde (1834; “About Reynard the Fox”); this work, with its epoch-making introduction amounting to a pro-Flemish manifesto, was followed in 1836 by a scholarly edition that gave him an international audience. In 1835 he moved to Ghent, where he became active as…
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Dutch literature
Poetry and prose
Van den vos Reinaerde (c. 1240; “Reynard the Fox”) is the Flemish poet Willem’s version of a translation by another Fleming, Aernout, of the French Le Plaid, which, by contrast, brilliantly satirizes feudal society and the epic manner.
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Van den vos Reinaerde (c. 1240; “Reynard the Fox”) is the Flemish poet Willem’s version of a translation by another Fleming, Aernout, of the French Le Plaid, which, by contrast, brilliantly satirizes feudal society and the epic manner.
Read More