Introducing the Medieval Fox

Disgrifiad Cymraeg / Welsh Description

Astudiaeth ddiwylliannol fer o hanes y llwynog yn y Canol Oesoedd, gan amlinellu agweddau canoloesol a'u darlunio trwy gyfrwng rhannau o destunau ysgrifenedig a delweddau.

Disgrifiad Saesneg / English Description

This is a short cultural history of the fox in the Middle Ages, outlining medieval views on foxes and illustrating them with text fragments and visual images.

Dosbarthu

Byddwn yn dosbarthu eitemau sydd mewn stoc o fewn 3 diwrnod gwaith, fel arfer drwy Royal Mail Tracked 48. Ar gyfer archebion o flaen llaw, byddwn yn dosbarthu’r eitem o fewn 3 diwrnod gwaith ar ôl ei derbyn gan ein cyflenwr.

Dispatch

In-stock items will be dispatched within 3 business days, usually by Royal Mail Tracked 48. For pre-orders, we’ll dispatch within 3 business days of receiving the item from our supplier.

Cynnwys / Table of Contents

Preface List of Illustrations Introduction The Fox and Medieval Religion The Fox and Medieval Scholarship The Fox and Medieval Literature Postscript Appendix Endnotes Further Reading Select Bibliography Index

Bywgraffiad yr Awdur / Author Biography

Paul Wackers is Professor Emeritus for Historical Dutch Literature at the University of Utrecht.

Adolygiad y Cyhoeddwr / Publisher Review

This beautifully presented book is crammed with fascinating information and rarely seen illustrations that enlighten us about aspects of life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages. Not just how the fox was regarded as a wily and dissembling mischief maker, but also how he/she was used as a handy metaphor for self-serving members of the ruling classes, including the aristocracy, the legal profession and the clergy. The fox is, after all, a master of flattery and sweet-talk, as La Fontaine so elegantly portrays in his fables. As Paul Wackers explains, these attributes emerge in ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’, written by an unknown author late in the fourteenth century, and in Chaucer’s wonderful ‘Nun’s Priest’s Tale’ of the same period. I became so captivated whilst reading that I was inspired to check on views of the fox in non-European cultures. He/she has many similar characteristics in Russian and Asian folklore, where foxes are seen, among many other things, as anthropomorphic shape-shifters. In Japan and China, the supernatural fox lives to a great age, becoming wiser with every year. Indigenous North Americans have a more positive view of the animal. To them they are mischievous and playful beings who are clever and resourceful, a symbol of good luck. Maybe this is because the tribes were mainly hunter-gatherers and did not keep livestock to be predated by pesky predators. But I guess the word ‘medieval’ in the title of this volume implies Western Europe, where the Renaissance ended the Middle Ages. The presentation is decidedly academic, and none the worse for that, apart from some obscure or specialist words that I had to look up. However, I do feel that the editors have let down the author by not correcting some obvious errors in English grammar and style. Wackers is a professor in Utrecht University, and presumably a native Dutchman. He no doubt has an almost perfect command of English, but writing in a foreign language is a difficult task, and there are several notable imperfections in style, elegance and grammar that tend to trip up the reader, and interrupt the immediacy of understanding. As I progressed through the book I found it easier to forgive this clunkiness in view of the ever-pertinent illustrations and the fascination of the subject. At times the narrative makes one feel that the author is lecturing to his students of medieval literature. There’s no doubt that good editing would have made the text as mellifluous as the articulate fox’s rhetoric. To sum up, it takes a while to accommodate the author’s discursive academic writing, but you will soon be hooked like that gullible goose, and begin to quote the book to anyone who will listen. There is much to entrap you in this short book, and if you are still hungry for more, there are loads of references and recommended books to chase up. Finally, don’t forget to flick through the pages so that you can see the little black fox running along in the corner!