One point of confusion above is that the name "Reynard" does not come from the French word for fox; quite the opposite. The French for fox comes from a Germanic proper name that is in modern German known as Reinhart, and in English as Reynard. The original word for fox in French was goupil, but this was replaced in the late middle ages by renard because of the popularity of the beast epic of Reynard the Fox in France. The y or i that is in the proper name is original to it in the Germanic languages, and the name of the fox in the Germanic versions of the stories has the i or y. There is no reason to expect the name and other names or words derived from it to lose the y in English just because they did so in French. So the dissimilarity of "renard" and "Reynard" is not a grounds for excluding the werefox connection...but I think there are more than enough other grounds, as I've made clear.

Q, the most obvious textual grounds for assuming Reynardine is an outlaw is the line "I'm seeking for concealment," which is nearly ubiquitous in broadside, songster, and oral versions. In many versions the line is "I'm seeking for concealment all from the judge's men," which makes it pretty clear he is, if not technically an outlaw, at least a wanted man (which is all I really mean by the term). In other versions, though, the line is "all in the judge's name," which would make him the opposite: a covert operative of some kind, a thief-taker perhaps, who is on some sort of stakeout.