The purpose of the present book is to make the unique ‘Culemann Fragments’ (preserved for more than half a century among the treasures of our University Library) accessible to students of Old Netherlandish and Old German literature by an exact photographic reproduction of the seven precious leaves. A brief account of the rise and development of the Medieval Beast Epic has been added in order to indicate the place they hold among the various verse and prose versions of the Reinaert story. The juxtaposition of the Netherlandish and the Liibeck texts makes it evident that Hinrek van Alckmer's ‘Reinaert’ is the immediate source of the famous Low German ‘Reinke de Vos’ from which nearly all subsequent versions are either translated or adapted.

It is not my present purpose to give a full account of the Medieval Tiersage and Tierepos in the Netherlands, France and Germany. This has been done adequately by other scholars, especially recently by Karl Voretzsch, but the selected Bibliography at the end of my brief Introduction will, together with the Table, be of use to readers who wish to make a more detailed study of the origins and literary development of the Medieval Beast Epic. It refers them to the more important books and articles dealing with various aspects of this fascinating subject. Some of the latest works mentioned in it contain further bibliographical references.