A Very Old Story, retold by Anne Louise Avery

Stories of the cunning fox, his escapades and his victims, have their origin in ancient Greece. The chief source is the Fables of Aesop which contain several fox stories, and these have been added to and embellished throughout Europe in the centuries ever since. Anne Louise Avery’s book, Reynard the Fox, published in 2020, is one such embellishment, told in the literary fiction genre. Her novel, described in the blurb as an ‘innovative translation’, uses for its material a prose work by William Caxton from around 1480. Caxton’s work was itself a translation, into the English of the time, of a thirteenth century Dutch poem Van den vos Reinaerde.

Reynard the Fox is pure political satire in which animals are made to represent the ruling classes in all their arrogance, foibles and underhand dealings. Thus we have King Noble the lion – privileged, fond of a drink, Sir Bruin the bear – bumbling, vain and greedy, Sir Tybert the cat – a professor at Louvain, Sir Isengrim the wolf – a thoroughly nasty piece of work, and of course the dashing, witty and silver-tongued anti-hero himself, Sir Reynard.

‘Barely able to see, bombarded with a thousand icy arrows, [Tybert] tore through the downpour, sinking into the mud and slipping on far slugs and wet hay and slopped cowpats for the long miles until he reached the river path.’

Tired of complaints of Reynard’s misdeeds, King Noble sends ambassadors to summon the fox to court to give an account of himself. First Sir Bruin, then Sir Tybert, who both suffer injury and humiliation without luring Reynard from his fortress of Malperduys. Finally Sir Grimbert the badger, Reynard’s good friend, agrees to ‘bring him in’.

Reynard makes his speech before the court, excusing his misdeeds but, so vehement are the voices against him that the king condemns him to death.

‘Reynard started to violently tremble, from his ears to the white chape of his tail, possessed with an aspen fear which was not altogether manufactured.’

Under the shadow of the gallows, Reynard makes an impassioned confession and promises to go on a pilgrimage to Rome if he is spared. And it undoubtedly helps his cause that he convinces Noble he posseses the secret to a fabulous treasure and will reveal it provided etc etc ….

Sir Reynard so extricates himself from his fate that Noble pardons him, arrests Bruin and Isengrim and even grants additional favours. To ease the journey, he may have a pilgrim’s bag made from the fear’s fur, and new shoes fashioned from the paws of his great enemy. It is rather sad that Isengrim’s wife is forced to suffer the same mutilation!

So the fox continues on his merry way, adding crime after crime to his tally. He is violent, murderous and unrepentent, and we hate him for it. But we love him too, his dash and charm and, above all, his ability to turn a defeat into a triumph. He is a loving husband and gentle father, which helps balance the scales in his favour.

‘Reynard managed to move his free paw between Isengrim’s back legs and, just as the wolf was reaching the peak of his invective, gripped him fast by the cullions, before wringing them as hard and viciously as he could.’

Ultimately, helped by his friends, Reynard manoeuvres himself into a confrontation – a duel – with Isengrim, which he very nearly loses, and all ends happily – well, for most of the characters.

Reynard the Fox is a very funny story which, for best enjoyment, should be read slowly. Anne Louise Avery peppers her narrative with some of the old English words – there is a glossary – adding colour to the original Dutch setting and preserving its mediaeval feel. OK, it’s a fairytale (though JRR Tolkein would have disagreed – see here), but fairytales usually have something to say about real people. Most of us, I suspect, can think of a Noble, a Reynard or a Bruin, even if not an Isengrim, among our acquaintances.

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