In medieval literature there were three sets of works that dealt with animals. There were the bestiaries, in which the medieval symbolists attempted to give a moral interpretation to the habits of beasts; there were the fables, in which beast tales were told for the sake of the lesson they taught; and third, there was the distinctively medieval set of stories, told because of their own intrinsic power of affording amusement, to which is generally given the name 'beast epic'. Of this last set of beast tales, which possibly had its origin in France, and which is so well represented in the branches of the French Roman de Renard, English offers few specimens. If we except Chaucer's Nun's Priest's Tale, we may say that the story of The Vox and the Wolf is the sole representative in English literature until the time of Caxton. Because of this solitary prominence, this tale demands special attention. - [Author]

Language: English