INTRODUCTION

RAGINHARD was once a man’s name, tolerably
widely spread, both in Germany itself and in
the Debatable Land between France and
Germany which forms at once both the link
and the bone of contention between the two
countries. It is composed of two Teutonic
roots, one of which is represented by our
English Zard, and the other which exists only
in the Gothic vagzz, with the sense of ‘ counsel.’
Raginhard thus means ‘strong in counsel,’ and,
therefore, is well adapted for the name of the
beast which, most of all animals, lives by its
wits. Ina slightly modified form it has become
in French the only name by which the fox is
known, the earlier form goupzl having become
replaced by venard, owing to the widespread
popularity of the Beast Satire in which the fox
plays so prominent a part.

These philological facts are of somewhat