Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Dedication
- Introduction
- Part I Medieval performers of narrative and their art
- Part II Medieval performance and the book
- Part III Performability and medieval narrative genres
- Part IV Perspectives from contemporary performers
- Afterword
- Works cited
- Index
Reading, reciting, and performing the Renart
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 October 2023
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Dedication
- Introduction
- Part I Medieval performers of narrative and their art
- Part II Medieval performance and the book
- Part III Performability and medieval narrative genres
- Part IV Perspectives from contemporary performers
- Afterword
- Works cited
- Index
Summary
Se or vos volïez taisir,
Seignor, ja porïez oïr,
S’estïez de bone memoire,
Une partie de l’estoire
Si con Renart et Ysengrin
Guerroierent jusqu’en la fin.
Si vos me prestés vos oreilles,
Ja vos voldrai dire merveilles
De Renart qui est vif maufés. (Dufournet II, 192, lines 1–9)
[My lords, if you would be silent now and apply your concentration, you would be able to hear part of the story of how Reynard and Isengrin warred with each other to the bitter end. If you lend me your ears, I should like to tell you some astounding things about that living devil Reynard.] (Owen 178)
So begins Branch X, Renart trompe Roënel le chien et Brichemer le cerf: Renart médecin [Renart Tricks Roënel the Dog and Brichemer the Stag: Renart Physician]. Particularly relevant are the next four lines, for they seem to indicate that the storytelling session which the text reflects took place in very impressive surroundings:
Toz sui espris et escaufés
De Renart dire en tel endroit,
Sanz delaiement orendroit,
Q’einc n’oïstes en si bon leu
De lui e d’Ysengrin le leu. (Dufournet II, 192, lines 10–13)
[I am very excited and eager to tell about Reynard here and now in such a place as this, for never have you heard in so splendid a situation about him and Isengrin the wolf.] (Owen 178)
Although several branches of the Roman de Renart begin with prologues that seem to indicate that the story which follows was to be recited before a live audience, this is the only one which gives a clue about the setting in which that happened. It begins with an injunction for silence, typical of so many other stories and poems meant to be performed. For readers who know Noël du Fail's Propos Rustiques, it will recall the only extant account outside the Roman de Renart of a performance of some of the earliest Renart material. It is told by that jovial, fictitious character, Robin Chevet, a gentleman farmer who, one evening, tells from memory a number of tales, beginning with elements from Branch III (the part known as Renart et les anguilles [Renart and the Eels], followed by the part called La Pêche à la queue [Fishing with the Tail], and continuing with part of Branch II (Renart et Tiécelin [Renart and Tiécelin]).
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- Information
- Performing Medieval Narrative , pp. 155 - 166Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2005