What is it about?
In this article I argue that the tale of the wolf's death in the final book of the Flemish animal epic is modeled after Ovid's tale of Pentheus in the Metamorphoses and that Ysengrimus' echatological prophesy contains verbal echoes of the storm scene in the first book of Virgil's Aeneid. Besides that I hope to show that in the satirical portrait of the sow Salaura the poet refers to Hildegard of Bingen, the famous abbess, writer, composer and visionary.
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Why is it important?
So far no animal fable has been identified as the source of the tale of Ysengrimus' death, contrary to most of the other tales in the animal epic. It seems that the poet drew his inspiration from a brutal scene in the Metamophoses by Ovid, recognized as a writer who influenced his style profoundly. Quite a few details in the portrait of the sow Salaura seem to make more sense when read as puns on Hildegard of Bingen, whose star began to rise at the same time the Flemish poet wrote his masterpiece. Together these findings shed new light on the final gruesome episode of the animal epic.
Perspectives
This is my most recent contribution to the study of the medieval Latin animal epic. Ever since the publication of my Dutch translation of the Ysengrimus I find myself exploring this field of study where a lot of interesting discoveries can still be made.
Mark Nieuwenhuis
independent scholar
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Grim humor in the tale of the wolf’s death, Reinardus Yearbook of the International Reynard Society, December 2023, John Benjamins,
DOI: 10.1075/rein.00070.nie.
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