Heinrich der Glïchezäre

Who is Heinrich der Glïchezäre?

Heinrich der Glïchezäre was a Middle High German poet from Alsace, author of a narrative poem, Reinhart Fuchs, the oldest German beast epic that we possess.

The date of its composition is about 1180. It is based on a French poem, part of an extensive Roman de Renart, but older than any of the branches of this romance that have come down to us. Of the German poem in its original form entitled Isengrïnes nöt, only a few fragments are preserved in a mutilated manuscript discovered in 1839 in the Hessian town of Melsungen. We possess, however, a complete version made by an unknown hand in the thirteenth century and preserved in two manuscripts, one at Heidelberg and one belonging to the archiepiscopal library of Kalocsa. This version is very faithful, the changes made therein pertaining apparently only to form and versification. Its title is Reinhart Fuchs.

In the beginning of this poem the fox is anything but a successful impostor, being generally outwitted by far weaker animals. But later on this changes. Reynard plays outrageous pranks on most of the animals, especially on Isengrin, the wolf, but escapes punishment by healing the sick lion. This the fox accomplishes at the expense of his adversaries. In the end he poisons the lion, his benefactor, and the poem closes with a reflection on the success attending craft and falsehood while honesty goes unrewarded.