I've heard countless different renditions and interpretations of this song. It became quite an obsession with me a few years ago. I've heard it described in books and on album notes as being about a Vampire (that was Buffy Sainte Marie's interpretation), a Highwayman (A.L.Lloyd on an Ann Briggs album), a man with supernatural powers (in a Helen Creighton collection of Canadian folksongs), and the list goes on.

My favourite interpretation comes from a performance John Roberts and Tony Barrand gave at a folk club in Toronto about 25 years ago. They made the connection between the man's name-Reynardine- and the traditional English folk tale, "Mr. Fox." (Reynard is the french wotd for fox.) "Mr. Fox" is similar to the tale Perreault collected called "Bluebeard". I prefer to interpret Reynardine as a very smart-looking, smooth-talking, manipulative man not unlike the classic serial killers of today. Nothing magical about a serial killer.