A translation into English verse of some of the stories of Reynard the Fox, based on the German edition by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Although so much in the way of commentary and criticism has been written about this renowned apologue, yet is its origin still enveloped in an apparently impenetrable fog. Many investigators, noted for learning and persevering research, have labored to clear this away; yet, with every new effort, the only result seems to be a further recession of-the date of its birth. The probability of reliable discovery has vanished and naught seems left but to relegate it, as one painstaking enquirer has suggested, to prehistoric times. ... The recital of these adventures, of which Reynard is the hero, has always been held in high esteem among German scholars, but it was not until the genius of Goethe had gathered them into his delightfully written hexameters that the allegory gained a general reception. - [Author]

Language: English