Anglo-Saxon riddles
Anglo-Saxon riddles are part of Anglo-Saxon literature. The riddle was a major, prestigious literary genre in Anglo-Saxon England, and riddles were written both in Latin and Old English verse. The most famous Anglo-Saxon riddles are in Old English and found in the tenth-century Exeter Book, while the pre-eminent Anglo-Saxon composer of Latin riddles was the seventh- to eighth-century scholar Aldhelm.
Surviving riddles range from theological and scholarly to comical and obscene and attempt to provide new perspectives and viewpoints in describing the world. Some at least were probably meant to be performed rather than merely read to oneself and give us a glimpse into the life and culture of the era.
The Old English riddles have been much more studied than the Latin ones, but recent work has argued that the two groups need to be understood together as 'a vigorous, common tradition of Old English and Anglo-Latin enigmatography'. Much past work on the Old English riddles has focused on finding and debating solutions, but a new wave of work has started using riddles as a way to study Anglo-Saxon world-views through the critical approaches of eco-criticism.
Anglo-Latin ''enigmata''
The earliest attested riddles in Anglo-Saxon England are in Latin, where they are known as enigmata and formed a thriving literary genre which is likely to have inspired the later collection of vernacular riddles in the Exeter Book. Unlike the Exeter Book riddles, the Anglo-Saxon enigmata are presented in manuscripts with their solutions as their title, and seldom close with a challenge to the reader to guess their solution.Aldhelm
Apparently inspired by the hundred Aenigmata of Symphosius, another, possibly north-Italian collection of metrical Latin riddles known today as the Bern Riddles, along with Byzantine literary riddling, the Anglo-Saxon aristocrat, scholar, abbot and bishop Aldhelm composed his own collection of a hundred metrical enigmata. He included it in his Epistola ad Acircium, a study of poetry dedicated to one Acircius, understood to be King Aldfrith of Northumbria, and therefore presumably written during his reign ; Aldhelm records that his riddles were composed early in his career 'as scholarly illustrations of the principles of Latin versification', and may have been the work where he established his poetic skill in Latin. The letter consists of three treatises:- De septenario, treatise on the number seven in arithmology.
- De metris, treatise on metre, including the Enigmata.
- De pedum regulis, didactive treatise on metrical feet, such as iambs and spondees.
Perhaps because of its use in Anglo-Saxon education, Aldhelm's collection inspired several more Anglo-Latin riddle collections: not long after Aldhelm composed his enigmata, Saint Boniface composed his own, in the form of 'a series of ten poems on the Vices and ten on the Virtues produced for the moral instruction of an unnamed female correspondent', influenced greatly by Aldhelm and containing many references to works of Vergil.
Example ''enigma''
An example of an enigma by Aldhelm is his Elleborus, by which word Aldhelm understood not the hellebore, but woody nightshade. It is number 98 in his collection:| Latin original | Literal translation | Literary translation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ostriger en arvo vernabam frondibus hirtis Conquilio similis: sic cocci murice rubro Purpureus stillat sanguis de palmite guttis. Exuvias vitae mandenti tollere nolo Mitia nec penitus spoliabunt mente venena; Sed tamen insanum vexat dementia cordis Dum rotat in giro vecors vertigine membra. | List of Aldhelm's ''enigmata''1. terra/earth, 2. ventus/wind, 3. nubes/cloud, 4. natura/nature, 5. iris/rainbow, 6. luna/moon, 7. fatum/fate, 8. Pliades/Pleiades, 9. adamas/diamond, 10. molosus/mastiff, 11. poalum/bellows, 12. bombix/silkworm, 13. barbita/organ, 14. pavo/peacock, 15. salamandra/salamander, 16. luligo/flying fish, 17. perna/bivalve mollusc, 18. myrmicoleon/ant-lion, 19. salis/salt, 20. apis/bee, 21. lima/file, 22. acalantida/nightingale, 23. trutina/scales, 24. dracontia/dragon-stone, 25. magnes ferrifer/lodestone, 26. gallus/rooster, 27. coticula/whetstone, 28. Minotaurus/Minotaur, 29. aqua/water, 30. elementum/alphabet, 31. ciconia/stork, 32. pugillares/writing tablets, 33. lorica/armour, 34. locusta/locust, 35. nycticorax/night-raven, 36. scnifes/midge, 37. cancer/crab, 38. tippula/pond strider, 39. leo/lion, 40. piper/pepper, 41. pulvillus/pillow, 42. strutio/ostrich, 43. sanguisuga/leech, 44. ignis/fire, 45. fusum/sprindle, 46. urtica/nettle, 47. hirundo/swallow, 48. vertico poli/sphere of the heavens, 49. lebes/cauldron, 50. myrifyllon/milfoil, 51. eliotropus/heliotrope, 52. candela, 53. Arcturus/Arcturus, 54. cocuma duplex/double boiler, 55. crismal/chrismal, 56. castor/beaver, 57. aquila/eagle, 58. vesper sidus/evening star, 59. penna/pen, 60. monocerus/unicorn, 61. pugio/dagger, 62. famfaluca/bubble, 63. corbus/raven, 64. columba/dove, 65. muriceps/mouser, 66. mola/mill, 67. cribellus, sieve, 68. salpix/trumpet, 69. taxus/yew, 70. tortella/loaf of bread, 71. piscis/fish, 72. colosus/colossus, 73. fons/spring, 74. fundibalum/sling, 75. crabro/hornet, 76. melarius/apple tree, 77. ficulnea/fig tree, 78. cupa vinaria/wine cask, 79. sol et luna/sun and moon, 80. calix vitreus/glass cup, 81. Lucifer/morning star, 82. mustela/weasel, 83. iuvencus/steer, 84. scrofa praegnans/pregnant sow, 85. caecus natus/man born blind, 86. aries/ram, 87. clipeus/shield, 88. basiliscus/serpent, 89. arca libraria/bookcase, 90. puerpera geminas enixa/woman bearing twins, 91. palma/palm, 92. farus editissima/tall lighthouse, 93. scintilla/spark, 94. ebulus/dwarf elder, 95. Scilla/Scylla, 96. elefans/elephant, 97. nox/night, 98. elleborus/hellebore, 99. camellus/camel, 100. Creatura/Creation.Other Anglo-Latin riddlersAround the same period, Tatwine composed forty acrostic riddles in a carefully structured sequence: 1-3 and 21-26 on theology, 4-14 on objects associated with ecclesiastical life, 15-20 on wonders and monsters, 27-39 on tools and related natural phenomena, with a final piece on the sun's rays. An example of Tatwine's work is enigma 11, on the needle:
Tatwine's collection was then expanded to 100 by someone writing under the name Eusebius through the prefacing of a further sixty enigmata, of which 1-4 are on the chain of being, from God to Man, 5-11 mostly on cosmological phenomena, 12-29 a miscellaneous collection mostly of objects, 30-36 mostly on writing, and 37-60 on animals. Many are based on the encyclopaedic writing of Isidore of Seville. An example of Eusebius's work is enigma 42, on the dragon:
Tatwine and Eusebius's riddles survive in the same two manuscripts, London, British Library, Royal 12.C.xxiii and Cambridge, University Library, Gg.5.35. Meanwhile, Boniface composed a sequence of ten riddles on the virtues and another of ten on the vices. The Lorsch riddles are also thought to have been composed in Anglo-Saxon England. List of Tatwine's riddles1. de philosophia/philosophy; 2. de spe, fide caritate; hope, faith charity; 3. de historia et sensu et morali et allegoria/historical, spiritual, moral, and allegorical sense; 4. de litteris/letters; 5. de membrano/parchment; 6. de penna/pen; 7. de tintino/bell; 8. de ara/altar; 9. de cruce Xristi/Christ's cross; 10. de recitabulo/lectern; 11. de acu/needle; 12. de patena/paten; 13. de acu pictili/embroidery needle; 14. de caritate/love; 15. de niue, grandine et glacie/snow, hail and ice; 16. de prepositione utriusque casus/prepositions with two cases; 17. de sciuro/squirrel; 18. de oculis/eyes; 19. de strabis oculis/squinting eyes; 20. de lusco/the one-eyed; 21. de malo/evil; 22. de Adam/Adam; 23. de trina morte/threefold death; 24. de humilitate/humility; 25. de superbia/pride; 26. de quinque sensibus/the five senses; 27. de forcipe/a pair of tongs; 28. de incude/anvil; 29. de mensa/table; 30. de ense et uagina/sword and sheath; 31. de scintilla/spark; 32. de sagitta/arrow; 33. de igne/fire; 34. de faretra/quiver; 35. de pruna/ember; 36. de uentilabro/winnowing fork; 37. de seminante/sower; 38. de carbone/charcoal; 39. de coticulo/whetstone; 40. de radiis solis/rays of the sun.List of Eusebius's riddles1. de Deo/God; 2. de angelo/angel; 3. de demone/fallen angel; 4. de homine/man; 5. de caelo/heaven; 6. de terra/earth; 7. de littera/letters; 8. de uento et igne/wind and fire; 9. de alpha/alpha; 10. de sole/sun; 11. de luna/moon; 12. de boue/bullock; 13. de uacca/cow; 14. de x littera/the letter x; 15. de igne et aqua/fire and water; 16. de pThe Exeter Book riddlesThe Exeter Book contains secular and religious poems and other writings, along with a collection of around 94 riddles. There is speculation that there may once have been, or have been intended to be, 100 riddles in the book, since this would match the Latin collections discussed above. The riddles are all written in alliterative verse, and frequently end with an injunction to 'say what I am called', suggesting that they were indeed recited as verbal entertainment; yet they clearly have diverse origins. The Exeter Book riddles can be situated within a wider tradition of 'speaking objects' in Anglo-Saxon culture and have much in common with poems such as The Dream of the Rood and The Husband's Message and with artefacts such as the Alfred Jewel or the Brussels Cross, which endow inanimate things with first-person voices.The Exeter Book riddles are varied in theme, but they are all used to engage and challenge the readers mentally. By representing the familiar, material world from an oblique angle, many not only draw on but also complicate or challenge social norms such as martial masculinity, patriarchal attitudes to women, lords' dominance over their servants, and humans' over animals. Thirteen, for example, have as their solution an implement, which speaks of itself through the riddle as a servant to its lord; but these sometimes also suggest the power of the servant to define the master. Unlike the Latin Anglo-Saxon riddles, the Old English ones tend not to rely on intellectual obscurity to make the riddle more difficult for the reader, rather focusing on describing processes of manufacture and transformation. The reader must be observant to any double meanings or "hinge words" in order to discover the answer to the riddle. The search for answers to the riddles has been addressed at length by Patrick J. Murphy, focusing on thought patterns of the period, but there is still no unanimous agreement on some of them. Some of the riddles are translated from Latin, such as the Leiden Riddle ; others seem to have come directly from vernacular tradition. The Anglo Saxon riddles are notable for their use of compound nouns and adjectives. These word combinations became what could be considered riddles within the riddle itself. They offered a new perspective and would poetically personify their subject. The majority of the riddles have religious themes and answers. Some of the religious contexts within the riddles are "manuscript book," "soul and body," "fish and river". The riddles also were written about common objects, and even animals were used as inspiration for some of the riddles. One example of a typical, religious riddle is Riddle 41, which describes the soul and body: While the Exeter Book was found in a cathedral library, and while it is clear that religious scribes worked on the riddles, not all of the riddles in the book are religiously themed. Many of the answers to the riddles are everyday, common objects. There are also many double entendres, which can lead to an answer that is obscene. One example of this is Riddle 23/25: One of the first answers that readers might think of would be an onion. If the reader pays close attention to the wording in the latter half of the riddle, however, he or she may be led to believe that the answer is a man's penis. Both of these answers are perfectly legitimate answers to this riddle, but one is very innocent where the other is obscene. Riddles in which such double entendre is thought to be prominent in the Exeter Book are: 2, 20, 25, 37, 42, 44, 45, 54, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 91. Even though some of the riddles contained obscene meanings, that is not to say that the majority of riddles in the Exeter Book were obscene. There were more religious and animalistic riddles than obscene riddles. Since the riddles were crammed into the pages of the manuscript with hardly any organization, many of the riddles vary in structure. The boundaries between riddles were often unclear and translations are relatively rough. The object of the riddles is generally preserved despite these possible errors. Notably, not a single one of the riddles found in the Exeter book were accompanied with answers. In fact, some remain unanswered to this day, such as Riddle 91: Types of riddles in the Exeter BookAccording to Archer Taylor, most riddles from the Exeter Book are 'true riddles' and can be placed into five categories:
Editions and translationsMajor editions of the Exeter Book riddles are:
Other Old English RiddlesThere are also two Old English prose riddles, surviving on folio 16v in the mid-eleventh-century psalter British Library, Cotton Vitellius E.xviii, made in Winchester, within a short text on secret codes, found among a collection of notes, charms, prayers, and computistical tables. |