Obscene Anglo-Norman in a Central French Mouth; or, How Renart the Fox Tricks Isengrin the Wolf, and Why It Is Important

In Branch Ib of the late twelfth-century Roman de Renart, Renart the Fox, believed to be dead, falls into a vat of dye colouring. This enables him to return home, in disguise, claiming to be an English jongleur. Upon encountering his old enemy, Isengrin the Wolf, Renart plays his role, uttering a broken French which, presumably, the medieval audience recognised as a caricatural version of Anglo-Norman, the French spoken in England, and/or as the imperfect speech of a foreigner only superficially versed in the language.