LL-L 'History' 2006.07.31 (11) [E/V]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 31 July 2006 * Volume 11
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From: Luc Hellinckx <luc.hellinckx at gmail.com>
Subject: LL-L 'History'

Beste Ron en Heather,

Regarding Madoc, I'd like to add that one of the nominees for "The
Greatest Belgian" was the author "Willem, die Madoc maecte". He's the
writer of the famous epic story "Van den vos Reynaerde". This fox has
captured many hearts in northern Belgium and some people believe that he
epitomizes the true spirit of the Flemish people.

More info can be found here:

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_den_vos_Reynaerde
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_die_Madocke_maecte

Anyway, not a lot is known about this man Willem, but apparently he
claims to have written the story of Madoc. This must have happened
before 1160, because that was approximately the time when he started
writing "Van den vos Reynaerde", and he starts it with:

Willem, die Madoc maecte,
Daer hi dicken omme waecte,
Hem vernoyde so haerde
Dat die avonture van Reynaerde
In dietsche onghemaket bleven
(Die Arnout niet hevet vulscreven),
Dat hi die vijte van Reynaerde dede soucken
Ende hise na den walschen boucken
In dietsche dus hevet begonnen....

Greetings,

Luc Hellinckx

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: History 

Hi, Luc!

Thanks.  And so the plot thickens ...

> This fox has
> captured many hearts in northern Belgium and some people 
> believe that he
> epitomizes the true spirit of the Flemish people.

Little do they know that the story spread all over the Lowlands, as did that of
Till Ulenspeghel.  With those stories it's hard to tell where they really
originated.  The place in which they were first published do not necessarily have
to be the ones in which they originated in the form of oral tradition.  It's
similar to the stories about the witty Nasreddin Hoca of Turkey.  He's featured
under different names not only throughout the Islamicized Turkic and
Turkic-influenced world all the way from the Balkans into China, but he's also
much beloved in Persian, Arab, Pashto, Urdu, Hindi and Bosnian variants.  Each
culture claims him as their own, and he's claimed also by some schools of Sufism
(and this possibly with good reason).

So Belgians like that naughty fox, huh?  I know him well, have read his escapades
in Middle Flemish and Middle Saxon.  After all, he's my namesake, though he's the
naughtier one and I'm the foxier one.  This should make me really popular in
Belgium then.  Jean Claude Van Damme, eat your heart out!  ;-)

Now, does Willem mean he wrote "Madoc" from scratch or just the "Dietsch"
translation?

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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