See also:

• RIDDLES (A.S. raedan, to interpret)

RIDDLES (A.S. raedan, to interpret)  , probably the See also:

• OLDEST

oldest extant See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form of See also:

• HUMOUR (Latin humor)

humour . They See also:

• SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring from. See also:

• MAN
• MAN, ISLE OF (anc. Mona)

man's earliest See also:

• PERCEPTION (from Lat. percipere, to perceive)

perception that• there are such things as analogies in nature . Man observes an example of See also:

• ANALOGY (Gr. avaXo-yLa, proportion)

analogy, puts his observations in the form of a question, and there is the riddle ready made . Some Boeotian' humorist, for example, detected the analogy between the See also:

• LIFE

life of humanity—the See also:

• CHILD
• CHILD, FRANCIS JAMES (1825-1896)
• CHILD, L
• CHILD, LYDIA MARIA (1802-1880)
• CHILD, SIR FRANCIS (1642-1713)
• CHILD, SIR JOHN (d. 1690)
• CHILD, SIR JOSIAH (163o - 1699)

child on all fours, the man erect• on two legs, old See also:

• AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age with its See also:

• STAFF (O. Eng. staef, cf. Du. staf, Ger. Stab, &c.; Icel. stafr meant also a written letter, and O. Eng. stafas, the letters of the alphabet; " stave," one of the thin pieces of wood of which a cask is made, is a doublet)

staff—on one See also:

• SIDE
• SIDE (mod. Eski Adalia)

side, and on the other the conception of. an See also:

• ANIMAL
• ANIMAL (Lat. animalis, from anima, breath, soul)

animal with a varying number of limbs . Put this in a question and it is the riddle of the See also:

• SPHINX (Gr. Q¢lyyea', to draw tight, squeeze)

Sphinx: Another instance is the question, . What we caught we threw away, what we could not catch we kept." See also:

• HOMER, WINSLOW (1836-191o)

Homer is said to have died of vexation at not being able to discover the See also:

• ANSWER (derived from and, against, and the same root as swear)

answer to this riddle, still current on the See also:

• COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast of See also:

• BRITTANY

Brittany, in See also:

• GERMANY
• GERMANY (Ger. Deutschland)

Germany and in See also:

• GASCONY (Wasconia)

Gascony . After inventing the riddle, men began to use it in a See also:

• KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind of See also:

• GAME

game,; bets were staked on the answer and sides were made, each side backing its See also:

• CHAMPION (Fr. champion, Late Lat. campio from campus; a field or open space, i.e. one " who takes the field " or fights; cf. Ger. Kampf, battle, and Kampfer, fighter)

champion . These See also:

• SPORTS
• SPORTS, THE BOOK OF

sports in Marriner's See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time were See also:

• COMMON

common in See also:

• TONGA, or FRIENDLY ISLANDS (so called by Captain Cook)

Tonga; they are no less popular among the See also:

• AFRICAN

African Woloffs . See also:

• SAMSON (1135-1211)
• SAMSON (cf. Heb. shemesh, " sun ")
• SAMSON, JOSEPH ISIDORE (1793-1871)

Samson's riddle set to the See also:

• PHILISTINES

Philistines is an instance of the See also:

• SPORT (a contracted or shortened form of "disport," to amuse, divert oneself, O. Fr. se dis porter or deporter, to leave off work, hence to play, Lat. dis-, away, and portare, to carry; the origin of the meaning lies in the notion of turning away from ser

sport in a Semitic See also:

• COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country . In marchen and See also:

• BALLADS

ballads, the See also:

• HERO (Gr. open)
• HERO, THE YOUNGER

hero's See also:

• CHANCE (through the O. Fr. cheance, from the Late Lat. cadentia, things happening, from cadere, to fall out, happen; cf. " case ")

chance of winning his beloved, or of escaping threatened See also:

• PUNISHMENT (from Lat. punire, to punish, from poena, punishment, Gr. 7rocvil)

punishment, is often made to turn on his See also:

• POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power of answering See also:

• RIDDLES (A.S. raedan, to interpret)

riddles . It follows from the artless and See also:

• PRIMITIVE

primitive See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character of the riddle that See also:

• REGULAR

regular popular riddles (Devinettes) are widely distributed, like popular tales, popular songs and popular customs . The Woloffs ask, " What flies for ever, and rests never ?

" Answer, The See also:

• WIND
• WIND (a common Teut. word, cognate with Skt. vats, Lat. ventus, cf. " weather," to be of course distinguished from to " wind," to coil or twist, O.Eng. windan, cf. "wander," "wend," &c.)

wind . The Basutos put this riddle, " What is wingless and legless, yet flies fast and cannot be imprisoned ? " Answer, The See also:

• VOICE (Fr. voix, from Lat. vox)

voice . The See also:

• GERMAN
• GERMAN, DUTCH AND SCANDINAVIAN

German riddle runs, "What can go in See also:

• FACE (from Lat. fades, derived either from facere, to make, or from a root fa-, meaning " appear "; cf. Gr. cbatvstv)

face of the See also:

• SUN
• SUN (0. Eng. sonne, Ger. sonne. Fr. soleil, Lat. sol, Gr. ijXior, from which comes helio- in various English compounds)

sun yet leave no See also:

• SHADOW (0. Eng. Schadewe, sceadu; a form of " shade "; connected with Gr. 6-Ore's, darkness)

shadow ? " Answer, The wind . In riddles may perhaps be noticed the animistic or personalizing tendency of See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

early human thought, just beginning to be conscious of itself . The See also:

• PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person who asked these riddles had the old sense of wind, for example, as a person, yet probably, unlike the See also:

• BUSHMEN, or BOSJESMANS

bushmen, he would never expect to see the See also:

• PERSONAL

personal wind . He knew the distinction between the personal and impersonal well enough to be sure that his See also:

• ENIGMA (Gr. aTvcyµa)

enigma .would See also:

• PRESENT

present some difficulty . The riddle, to be brief, is an interrogatory form of the See also:

• FABLE (Fr. fable, Lat. fabula)

fable, and like the fable originates among See also:

• RUDE, FRANCOIS (1784–1855)

rude See also:

• PEOPLE

people, and is perpetuated in the See also:

• FOLKLORE

folklore of peasantry . Probably the best See also:

• BOOK

book on the riddle (a subject less frequently studied than the marchen or the myth) is See also:

• EUGENE

Eugene See also:

• ROLLAND, JOHN (fl. 1560)

Rolland, Devinettes ou enigmes populaires, with a See also:

• PREFACE (Med. Lat. prefatia, for classical praefatio, praefari, to speak beforehand)

preface by M . Gaston See also:

• PARIS
• PARIS (also called ALEXANDROS)
• PARIS, ALEXIS PAULIN (1800-x881)
• PARIS, BRUNO PAULIN GASTON (1839-1903)
• PARIS, FRANCOIS DE (169o-1727)
• PARIS, LOUIS PHILIPPE ALBERT
• PARIS, TREATIES OF (1814-1815)

Paris . The power of answering riddles among the people who invented the See also:

• LEGEND (through the French from the med. Lat. legenda, things to be read, from legere, to read)

legend of See also:

• SOLOMON, ODES OF
• SOLOMON, PSALMS OF

Solomon and the See also:

• QUEEN
• QUEEN (O.E. cwen, wife, related to "quean," O.E. cwene, a hussy; cf. Gr. yvvi7: from root gan-, to produce; cf. genus, " kin," &c.)

queen of Sheba seems to have been regarded as a See also:

• PROOF (in M. Eng. preove, proeve, preve, &°c., from O. Fr . prueve, proeve, &c., mod. preuve, Late. Lat. proba, probate, to prove, to test the goodness of anything, probus, good)

proof of See also:

• GREAT

great sagacity .

The riddle proper is all but See also:

• EXTINCT

extinct outside folklore and See also:

• SAVAGE
• SAVAGE, MINOT JUDSON (1841– )
• SAVAGE, RICHARD (d. 1743)

savage life, and has been replaced by the See also:

• CONUNDRUM (a word of unknown origin, probably coined in burlesque imitation of scholastic Latin, as "hocus-pocus" or '" panjandrum ")

conundrum, which is a See also:

• PUN

pun in the interrogative form . OLn See also:

• ENGLISH

ENGLISH RIDDLES.—A number of interesting poetical riddles in old English are contained in the See also:

• EXETER
• EXETER, EARL, MARQUESS AND DUKE OF

Exeter Book, written about A.D . 1000 . According to the numbering in the only See also:

• COMPLETE

complete edition (in Grein-Wiilker, Bibliothek der Angelsachsisches Poesie, vol. iii. pp . 184–238), there would appear to be 95 of them; but No is the monodramatic lyric Wulf and Eadwacer, which was included among the riddles by a See also:

• MISTAKE (i.e. take amiss)

mistake of the first editor of the Exeter Book, B . See also:

• THORPE [or TnoRP], JOHN (/l. 1570-1618)
• THORPE, BENJAMIN (1782-1870)

Thorpe; No . 90 is not in Old English, but in Latin; and several others are See also:

• MERE
• MERE, ADALBERT (1838-1909)

mere unintelligible fragments . There remain about 85 that have been preserved either entire or with sufficient approach to completeness for their See also:

• GENERAL
• GENERAL (Lat. generalis, of or relating to a genus, kind or class)

general See also:

• DRIFT (from "drive ")

drift to 'be perceived . The riddles Nos . 2–6o occupy 15 folios in the See also:

• MIDDLE

middle of the MS.; Nos . 62–95 occupy the last 7 folios, and No . 61 and a mutilated and divergent copy of No .

31 are placed by themselves among poems of a different kind . Attempts have been made to show that the two See also:

• MAIN (from the Aryan root which appears in " may " and " might," and Lat. magnus, great)
• MAIN (Lat. Moenus)

main See also:

• GROUPS
• GROUPS, THEORY

groups are distinguished from each other by See also:

• SPECIAL

special characteristics that may indicate difference of authorship or date; but there seems to be no See also:

• GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good See also:

• REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason for attaching any significance to the arrangement of the MS . Some of the riddles almost certainly were written in See also:

• NORTHUMBRIA (regnum Northanhymbrorum)

Northumbria in the early See also:

• PART

part of the 8th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century; a copy of one of them (No . 36), in Anglian See also:

• DIALECT (from Gr. Sia stcror, conversation, manner of speaking, &aXeyec6at, to converse)

dialect, has been preserved in a MS. at See also:

• LEIDEN

Leiden . Whether all the riddles are the See also:

• WORK

work of one author, or whether they belong to different periods and districts, remains at present uncertain . For the reasons stated in the See also:

• ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article See also:

• CYNEWULF
• CYNEWULF (d. 785)

CYNEWULF the attribution of the whole collection to that poet, once almost universally accepted, is now no longer tenable; and there is no overwhelming See also:

• PROBABILITY (Lat. probabilis, probable or credible)

probability that he is the author of any portion of it.' The investigations of F . See also:

• DIETRICH, CHRISTIAN WILHELM ERNST (1712-1774)

Dietrich and A . _Ebert have established the fact that a few of the riddles are imitated from the Latin enigmas of See also:

• SYMPHOSIUS, or SYMPOSIUS

Symphosius and See also:

• ALDHELM (c. 640-709)

Aldhelm . No . 36 is a See also:

• TRANSLATION

translation of Aldhelm's riddle De Lorica, and No . 41 is founded on the same writer's riddle De Creature . The dependence of the Old English riddles on Latin originals has, however, been greatly exaggerated, especially by A .

Prehn (Komposition and Quellen der Ratsel See also:

• DES

des Exeterbuches, 1883), who goes so far as to maintain that every one of them contains reminiscences of one or more of the compositions of Symphosius, Aldhelm, Tatwine and See also:

• EUSEBIUS
• EUSEBIUS (Gr. EuOi/3tos, from ebaegils, pious, cf. the Latin name Pius)
• EUSEBIUS [OF CAESAREA] (c. 260-c. 340)
• EUSEBIUS [OF EMESA] (d. c. "36o)

Eusebius . The correspondences alleged are in most cases slight, if not purely fanciful, and it is even doubtful whether the two writers last named were known at all to the authors of the See also:

• VERNACULAR (Lat. verna, dim. vernaculus, a slave horn in his master's house)

vernacular riddles . All the Englishmen who wrote riddles in the 8th and following centuries, whether they wrote in their native See also:

• TONGUE (O. Eng. lunge)

tongue or in Latin, may be said to belong to one school, and their work has many features in common . But except in a few instances the riddles written in Old English are probably not less but more See also:

• ORIGINAL

original than those written in Latin . In poetical merit they are generally See also:

• SUPERIOR

superior . A good notion of their character and See also:

• STYLE
• STYLE (from Gr. a-6'1ms, a column; a different word from that used in literature, see below)

style may be gained from Mr Stopford See also:

• BROOKE, FRANCES (1724-1789)
• BROOKE, FULKE OREVILLE, 1ST BARON (1554-1628)
• BROOKE, HENRY (c. 1703-1783)
• BROOKE, SIR JAMES (1803-1868)
• BROOKE, STOPFORD AUGUSTUS (1832– )

Brooke's spirited (though not minutely accurate) See also:

• TRANSLATIONS

translations of many of them in his See also:

• HISTORY

History ' For the linguistic arguments against Cynewulf's authorship of the Riddles see especially A . Madert, See also:

• DIE
• DIE (Fr. de, from Lat. datum, given)

Die Sprache der altenglischen Ratsel des Exeterbuches and die Cynewulffrage (1900) . P . SI7 of Early English Literature, vol. i . (1892) . Mr Brooke's See also:

• INTERPRETATION (from Lat. interpretari, to expound, explain, inter pres, an agent, go-between, interpreter; inter, between, and the root pret-, possibly connected with that seen either in Greek 4 p4'ew, to speak, or irpa-rrecv, to do)

interpretation of No . 11 (the See also:

• BARNACLE

Barnacle See also:

• GOOSE (a common Teut. word, O. Eng. gOs, pl. ges, Ger. Gans, O. Norse gas, from Aryan root, ghans, whence Sans. hansa, Lat. anser (for hanser)
• GOOSE (GAME OF)

Goose) is original, and no doubt correct: in some other instances the solutions he has adopted are somewhat more questionable than they would appear to be from his translations .

Unlike the Latin riddles of Aldhelm, the riddles of the Exeter Book are unaccompanied with solutions . In some of them, however, the answer is indicated by an See also:

• ANAGRAM (Gr. ava, back, and ypa(beiv, to write)

anagram, usually expressed in runic characters . , Thus No . 24 begins with the words " AGOF is my name reversed," where the See also:

• WEST
• WEST, BENJAMIN (1738-1820)
• WEST, NICHOLAS (1461-1533)

West Saxon See also:

• SCRIBE, AUGUSTIN EUGENE (1791-1860, French dramatist, was born in Paris on the 24th of December 1791. His father was a silk merchant, and he was well educated, being destined for the bar. But, having a real gift for the theatre, a gift which unfortunately

scribe, in accordance with the phonetic See also:

• LAWS

laws of his own dialect, has substituted F for the final B of his Anglian original ; the word is an anagram of boga, " See also:

• BOW (pronounced " bo ")

bow." In No . 25 the mimic skill of the See also:

• MAGPIE

magpie is described, and at the conclusion the name of the See also:

• BIRD

bird (higora) is indicated by the six letters G, A, R, 0, H, I . The See also:

• SOLUTION (from Lat. solvere, to loosen, dissolve)

solution of nearly all the riddles was attempted by F . See also:

• DIET

Diet-See also:

• RICH, BARNABE (c. 1540-1617)
• RICH, CLAUDIUS JAMES (1787-1821)
• RICH, JOHN (1692-1761)
• RICH, PENELOPE, LADY (c. 1562–1607)
• RICH, RICHARD, 1ST BARON RICH (1490?-1567)

rich, in the 11th and 12th volumes of See also:

• HAUPT, MORITZ (1808—1874)

Haupt's Zeitschrift See also:

• FUR (connected with O. Fr. forre, a sheath or case; so " an outer covering ")

fur deutsches Alterthum . In many cases Dietrich was certainly right, but in many others his conjectures are strangely perverse, owing to misleading comparisons with supposed Latin originals . Subsequent scholars have been much more successful in refuting Dietrich's explanations than in replacing them by others more satisfactory . The most copious contributor of new interpretations has been Prof . M . Trautmann, in several articles in Anglia, and also in See also:

• BONNER, EDMUND (1500?—1569)

Bonner, Beitrage zur Anglistik, No .

19 (1905); but very few of his interpretations can be considered even plausible, and he sometimes rejects the solutions of his predecessors when they are probably right . One riddle (No . 51, See also:

• FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

Fire) was independently solved by Prof . Trautmann and G . Herzfeld (Die Ratsel des Exeterbuches and ihr Verfasser, 1890) . The articles on the subject by F . See also:

• TUPPER, MARTIN FARQUHAR (1810--1889)
• TUPPER, SIR CHARLES, BART

Tupper, Jr., in See also:

• MODERN

Modern See also:

• PHILOLOGY

Philology, vol. ii . (1903), and in Modern See also:

• LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

Language Notes for 1903 and 1906, are extremely valuable, though the author's original explanations do not appear convincing . After all that has been done, the meaning of a considerable number of the riddles is still uncertain . In some instances this may be due to the corrupt See also:

• STATE
• STATE, GREAT OFFICERS OF

state of the See also:

• TEXT (Lat. textum, woven fabric, from texere, to weave)

text; in others the terms in which the See also:

• OBJECT

object is described are so vague that several solutions are equally plausible . (H .