Renart and Chantecler: Two Animals that Shaped French Culture and Language

Margo Lestz — October 11, 2017

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Contributor blog post by Margo Lestz:

A few months ago, I wrote about the Gallic rooster and how it became the symbol of France. Then William Bahr, an online friend with whom I share an interest in the French Revolution, asked me why the rooster was called Chantecler. This caused me to do a bit more research and led me to some curious French fable finds.

To find out why Chantecler is a favored name for French roosters, we have to go back to the twelfth century and start with a fox.

…Continue reading here for another one of those French mysteries uncovered by Margo’s Curious Rambler research. Why is a fox called a renard? And, how does a singing coq get its name.

Via:: The Curious Rambler

Margo Lestz

Margo is a British/American who has lived in Nice, France for the past nine years. She loves digging into the history of an area and discovering the tales behind local customs and traditions. She blogs about her discoveries on The Curious Rambler . She is also the author of two books, French Holidays & Traditions, and Curious Histories of Nice, France. Click here for Margo's books.

She describes herself as a perpetual student and is always taking some kind of course or researching a moment in history that has caught her fancy. She’s curious by nature and always wondering who, what, why, when, where, and how.

Margo shares her adventures (and her questions) with Jeff, her husband of many years. She enjoys travel, history, observing cultures and traditions – and then writing about them, of course.