History Literature / ReynardTheFox

* EvilVersusEvil: Reynard and Isengrim. Isengrim is the villain of the story, but Reynard is not any better.

* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: Subverted. Typical for most medieval tales it's the other way around. All women in this story are lewd or stupid. When King Nobel assumes Reynard is lying to him, it's his own wife who tells him to stop being paranoid and simply trust the fox.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Reynard's name has been spelled differently in many languages, partly because there was no standard spelling in the Middle Ages. This also applies to the rest of the characters' names as well.

* Ladislas Starevich's ''Le Roman de Renard'' (1928): a French black-and-white stop-motion animated film based on the story with design elements based on classic Russian puppetry. Notably, it is one of the earliest known animated feature films, predating Disney's ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs''.

* Ladislas Starevich's ''Le Roman de Renard'' (1928): a French black-and-white stop-motion animated film based on the story with design elements based on classic Russian puppetry. Notably, it is one of the earliest known animated films, predating Disney's ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs''.

* MeaningfulName:
** The priest's wife is named ''Julocke'' in the Dutch/Flemish version, which is derived from "Jou lok ik" ("It's you whom I call/seduce").
** Originally foxes were named ''goupil'' in French. But since foxes attacking farms were a very real thing in medieval times people considered it bad luck to mention the word ''goupil''. Therefore ''renard'' was used as a euphemism, until it actually became the standard French word for ''fox'' as it is today. The only way in French to distinguish the character from the species is the fact that the character is written ''Renart'' while the species is called ''renard''.
* MurderersAreRapists: In Reynard's case.

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: The animals defend Reynard, only to be fooled and humilated by him.

* The 2005 animated film ''Renart the Fox'' (''Le Roman de Renart'') from Luxembourg, also known in some markets as Renny the Fox, features the hero as being married with two children, stealing to provide a better life for his family, going on a quest for a treasure, and facing execution when he is framed for killing a henhouse full of chickens.

* AdaptationNameChange: Geoffrey Chaucer's Nun's Priest's Tale changes Reynard's name to Russell and Pinte's name to Pertelote in his adaptation of ''Si comme Renart prist Chanticler le Coq''.

''Reynard the Fox'' is a series of French/Belgian/German/Dutch/English medieval folklore tales about a KarmicTrickster fox named [[DubNameChange Reynard/Renart/Reineke/Reintje/Reynaert]]. In all variations of the story Reynard is depicted as a [[CunningLikeAFox cunning fox]] who has engaged in so many criminal deeds that the Royal court of King Nobel the lion wants to bring him to justice. He sends out one animal at the time to arrest Reynard and bring him to court, but all attempts go horribly wrong. Bruun the Bear is tricked by Reynard, who tells him there's honey inside a tree. As Bruun peeps inside he gets stuck. Tybeert the cat is also tricked by sending him to a chicken coop, owned by a local priest. Reynard locks Tybeert inside and the noise alarms the priest, who beats Tybeert out. The cat does get his revenge by [[GroinAttack biting off one of the priest's testicles]].

* The 1986 French animated series ''WesternAnimation/MoiRenart'' ("I, Reynard") from France. It has a SettingUpdate in modern-day Paris (as in, TheEighties) and has the cast as [[PettingZooPeople fully anthro characters]].

''Reynard the Fox'' is a series of French/Belgian/German/Dutch medieval folklore tales about a KarmicTrickster fox named [[DubNameChange Reynard/Renart/Reineke/Reintje/Reynaert]]. In all variations of the story Reynard is depicted as a [[CunningLikeAFox cunning fox]] who has engaged in so many criminal deeds that the Royal court of King Nobel the lion wants to bring him to justice. He sends out one animal at the time to arrest Reynard and bring him to court, but all attempts go horribly wrong. Bruun the Bear is tricked by Reynard, who tells him there's honey inside a tree. As Bruun peeps inside he gets stuck. Tybeert the cat is also tricked by sending him to a chicken coop, owned by a local priest. Reynard locks Tybeert inside and the noise alarms the priest, who beats Tybeert out. The cat does get his revenge by [[GroinAttack biting off one of the priest's testicles]].

* DubNameChange: ''Le Roman de Renart'' in French (the French word ''Renard'' eventually meant ''fox'' following the popularity of the book), ''Reineke Fuchs'' in German, ''Van De Vos Reynaerde'' in Dutch. The Kalila and Dimna stories are essentially the Middle Eastern version of Reynard the Fox. They're about [[GuileHero two wily jackals]] who sometimes work as viziers to the king ([[KingOfBeasts a lion, of course]]).

** Nivardus' ''Ysengrinus'' (1148-1153): Written by a man from Gent, Flanders (nowadays in Belgium), but in Latin.
** Pierre de St. Cloud's ''Le Roman de Renart'' (1174, sequel in 1179): Written in French.
** Heinrich der Glïchezäre's ''Reinhart Fuchs'' (1180): Written in German. Creator/JohannWolfgangVonGoethe would later base his poem ''Reineke Fuchs'' on this text.
** Willem die Madoc Maecte's ''Van den vos Reynaerde'' (1260): Written in Dutch by a Flemish man from presumably Eastern Flanders (nowadays Belgium)
** William Caxton's ''The Historie of Reynart the Foxe'' (1485): A text in medieval English, translated from the Dutch/Flemish version.
** Michel Rodange's ''Rénert the Fox'' (1872): a Luxembourgeois text, adapted from the Dutch original, which sets the story in Luxembourg. It has gained classic status in the country for using regional and sub-regional dialects to depict the fox and his companions.
** Ladislas Starevich's ''Le Roman de Renard'' (1928): a French black-and-white stop-motion animated film based on the story with design elements based on classic Russian puppetry. Notably, it is one of the earliest known animated films, predating Disney's ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs''.
** Creator/AndreNorton's ''Rogue Reynard'' (1947): Written in very archaic English. Shows him as a straight-up VillainProtagonist.
** The 1989 animated film ''WesternAnimation/ReynardTheFox'' (''Reineke Fuchs'') from Germany.
** The 2005 animated film ''Renart the Fox'' (''Le Roman de Renart'') from Luxembourg, also known in some markets as Renny the Fox, features the hero as being married with two children, stealing to provide a better life for his family, going on a quest for a treasure, and facing execution when he is framed for killing a henhouse full of chickens.
** Marc Legendre's ''Reynaert De Vos'' (2010): A Belgian comic book adaptation of the work.
** David R. Witanowski's 2011-2013 ''Literature/TheReynardCycle,'' a series of LowFantasy adaptations featuring human beings rather than animals.

* EvilVersusEvil: Reynard and Isengrim. Isengrim is the villain of the story, but Reynard is not anyhow better.

* CrapsackWorld: In the antropomorphic animal setting.

* {{Jerkass}}: Reynard.
* KarmaHoudini: Reynard