In 1872, Méchel Rodange wrote the work Renert – De Fuuss am Frack an a Maansgréisst, which was kept quiet during his lifetime and is now known as one of the most important and earliest texts written in the Luxembourgish language.
The epic poem, written in verse, has a cunning fox as its protagonist, who hides behind good manners. This allows him to bring truths to light where they would have been better left in the dark, and to twist them in other places as he sees fit.
The author's main text was Goethe's Reineke Fuchs, from which he emancipated himself, however, by transforming the material into a satire on 19th century society - a society that the editor Romain Hilgert is able to bring closer to through the historical and linguistic explanations that supplement the primary text. Hilgert embeds the work in the context in which it was written, highlights the political and social dimension, and, to a certain extent, brings out the "insiders" of the time who help the reader unmask the countless satirical aspects.
The 2020 edition is based on the 1987 edition, but some changes have been made compared to it. Thus, taking into account later corrections by Rodange, the primary text remains close to the first edition of 1872, but has been adapted to the orthography of 2019 to give readers better access.