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“Say what I am?”
Exeter Book riddles plus a charm – a selection
Riddle 25
(translated by Craig Williamson)
Ic eom wunderlicu wiht, wifum on hyhte,
I am a wonderful help to women,
neahbuendum nyt; nængum sceþþe
The hope of something to come. I harm
burgsittendra, nymþe bonan anum.
No citizen except my slayer.
Staþol min is steapheah, stonde ic on bedde,
Rooted I stand on a high bed.
5 neoþan ruh nathwær. Neþeð hwilum
I am shaggy below. Sometimes the beautiful
ful cyrtenu ceorles dohtor,
Peasant’s daughter, an eager-armed,
modwlonc meowle, þæt heo on mec gripeð,
Proud woman grabs my body,
ræseð mec on reodne, reafað min heafod,
Rushes my red skin, holds me hard,
fegeð mec on fæsten. Feleþ sona
Claims my head. The curly-haired
10 mines gemotes, seo þe mec nearwað,
Woman who catches me fast will feel
wif wundenlocc. Wæt bið þæt eage.
Our meeting. Her eye will be wet.
Riddle 33
(translated by Craig Williamson)
Wiht cwom æfter wege wrætlicu liþan,
cymlic from ceole cleopode to londe,
hlinsade hlude; hleahtor wæs gryrelic,
egesful on earde, ecge wæron scearpe.
5 Wæs hio hetegrim, hilde to sæne,
biter beadoweorca; bordweallas grof,
heardhiþende. Heterune bond,
sægde searocræftig ymb hyre sylfre gesceaft:
"Is min modor mægða cynnes
10 þæs deorestan, þæt is dohtor min
eacen up liden, swa þæt is ældum cuþ,
firum on folce, þæt seo on foldan sceal
on ealra londa gehwam lissum stondan."
An awesome beauty angled the wave;
The deep-throated creature called to land,
Laughed loud-lingering, struck terror
Home to men. Her blades honed sharp,
She was slow to battle but battle-grim,
Savage wound-worker. The slaughterer
Struck ship-walls, carried a curse.
The cunning creature said of herself:
“My mother, who comes from the kind of women
Dearest and best, is my daughter grown
Great and pregnant; so it is known to men
On earth that she shall come and stand
Gracefully on the ground in every land”.
Riddle 44
(translated by Craig Williamson)
Wrætlic hongað bi weres þeo,
A small miracle hangs near a man’s thigh,
frean under sceate. Foran is þyrel.
Full under folds. It is stiff, strong,
Bið stiþ ond heard, stede hafað godne;
Bold, brassy, and pierced in front.
þonne se esne his agen hrægl
When a young lord lifts his tunic
5 ofer cneo hefeð, wile þæt cuþe hol
Over his knees, he wants to greet
mid his hangellan heafde gretan
With the hard head of this hanging creature
þæt he efenlang ær oft gefylde.
The hole it has long come to fill.
Riddle 45
(translated by Craig Williamson)
Ic on wincle gefrægn weaxan nathwæt,
I heard of something rising in a corner,
þindan ond þunian, þecene hebban;
Swelling and standing up, lifting its cover.
on þæt banlease bryd grapode,
The proud-hearted bride grabbed at the boneless
hygewlonc hondum, hrægle þeahte
Wonder with her hands; the prince’s daughter
5 þrindende þing þeodnes dohtor.
Covered that swelling thing with a swirl of cloth.
Riddle 46
(translated by Craig Williamson)
Wer sæt æt wine mid his wifum twam
A man sat down to feast with his two wives,
ond his twegen suno ond his twa dohtor,
Drank wine with two daughters, supped with two sons.
swase gesweostor, ond hyra suno twegen,
The daughters were sisters with their own two sons,
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freolico frumbearn; fæder wæs þær inne
Each son a favoured, first-born prince.
5 þara æþelinga æghwæðres mid,
The father of each prince sat with his son,
eam ond nefa. Ealra wæron fife
Also the uncle and nephew of each.
eorla ond idesa insittendra.
In that room’s reach was a family of five!
Riddle 54
(translated by Craig Williamson)
Hyse cwom gangan, þær he hie wisse
stondan in wincsele, stop feorran to,
hror hægstealdmon, hof his agen
hrægl hondum up, hrand under gyrdels
5 hyre stondendre stiþes nathwæt,
worhte his willan; wagedan buta.
þegn onnette, wæs þragum nyt
tillic esne, teorode hwæþre
æt stunda gehwam strong ær þon hio,
10 werig þæs weorces. Hyre weaxan ongon
under gyrdelse þæt oft gode men
ferðþum freogað ond mid feo bicgað
.
The young man came over to the corner
Where he knew she stood. He stepped up,
Eager and agile, lifted his tunic
With hard hands, thrust through her girdle
Something stiff, worked on the standing
One his will. Both swayed and shook.
The young man hurried, was sometimes useful,
Served well, but always tired
Sooner than she, weary of the work.
Under her girdle began to grow
A hero’s reward for laying on dough.
Riddle 62
(translated by Craig Williamson)
Ic eom heard ond scearp, hingonges strong,
forðsiþes from, frean unforcuð,
wade under wambe ond me weg sylfa
ryhtne geryme. Rinc bið on ofeste,
5 se mec on þyð æftanweardne,
hæleð mid hrægle; hwilum ut tyhð
of hole hatne, hwilum eft fareð
on nearo nathwær, nydeþ swiþe
suþerne secg. Saga hwæt ic hatte.
I am the hard punch and pull of power,
Bold thrusting out, keen coming in,
Serving my lord. I burrow beneath
A belly, tunneling a tight road.
My lord hurries and heaves from behind
With a catch of cloth. Sometimes he drags me
Hot from the hole, sometimes shoves me
Down the snug road. The southern thruster
Urges me on. Say who I am.
Riddle 63
(translated by Craig Williamson)
Oft ic secga seledreame sceal
fægre onþeon, þonne ic eom forð boren
glæd mid golde, þær guman drincað.
Hwilum mec on cofan cysseð muþe
5 tillic esne, þær wit tu beoþ,
fæðme on folm... ...grum þyð,
wyrceð his willa... ...ð l...
fulre, þonne ic forð cyme
......
10 Ne mæg ic þy miþan,
...an on leohte
...... swylce eac bið sona
...r... ...te getacnad, hwæt me to
15 ...leas rinc, þa unc geryde wæs.
Gleaming with joy, glad with gold,
I am carried to the hall where I serve
Bold heroes carousing together.
Sometimes in a chamber as I come full-
Bodies to a palate, a man may kiss me,
Press me boldly with his cupped hand,
Work his will, drink desire,
Mouth on mine, in a delicate spill
* * *
So the light shows what I bear in my belly
* * *
So the reckless man raises this treasure,
Drinks deep of my own dark pleasure.
Riddle 90
(translated by Craig Williamson)
Min heafod is homere geþuren,
My head is struck by a forging hammer,
searopila wund, sworfen feole.
Sheared close by a shaping blade,
Oft ic begine þæt me ongean sticað,
Hones smooth by a fierce file.
þonne ic hnitan sceal, hringum gyrded,
Sometimes I swallow my tempered foe,
5 hearde wið heardum, hindan þyrel,
When bound by rings, I heave from behind,
forð ascufan þæt mines frean
Thrust a long limb through a hard hole,
modwyn [mod.W.] freoþað middelnihtum.
Catch hard the keeper of the heart’s pleasure,
Hwilum ic under bæc bregde nebbe,
Twist with my tongue and turn back
hyrde þæs hordes, þonne min hlaford wile
The midnight guardian of my lord’s treasure
10 lafe þicgan þara þe he of life het
When the conquering warrior comes to hold
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wælcræfte awrecan willum sinum.
The gift of slaughter, the joy of gold.
Charm 1 „For unfruitful land,” Lacnunga, BL, Harley 585, late 10th c.
Translated by Karen Jolly
Here is the remedy, how you may better your land, if it will not grow well or if some harmful thing has been done to it
by a sorcerer [dry] or by a poisoner [lyblace]. Take then at night, before dawn, four sods from four sides of the land, and
mark where they were before. Then take oil and honey and yeast, and milk of each animal that is on the land, and a
piece of each type of tree that grows on the land, except hard beams, and a piece of each herb known by name, except
burdock [glappan] only, and put then holy water thereon, and drip it three times on the base of the sods, and say then
these words:
Crescite
, grow, et multiplicamini, and multiply, et replete, and fill, terre, the earth. In nomine patris et filii et spiritus
sancti sit benedicti.
[In the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit be blessed.] And the Pater noster [Our
Father] as often as the other.
And then bear the sods into church, and let a masspriest sing four masses over the sods, and let someone turn the green
[sides] to the altar, and after that let someone bring the sods to where they were before, before the sun sets. And have
made for them four signs of Christ [crosses] of quickbeam and write on each end: Matthew and Mark, Luke, and John.
Lay that sign of Christ in the bottom of the pit [where each sod had been cut out], saying then: crux Matheus, crux
Marcus, crux Lucas, crux sanctus Iohannes
. Take then the sods and set them down there on [the crosses], and say then
nine times these words, Crescite [grow], and as often the Pater noster, and turn then to the east, and bow nine times
humbly, and speak then these words:
Eastwards I stand, for mercies I pray,
I pray the great domine [lord], I pray the powerful lord,
I pray the holy guardian of heaven-kingdom,
earth I pray and sky
and the true sancta [holy] Mary
and heaven's might and high hall,
that I may this charm [galdor] by the gift of the lord
open with [my] teeth through firm thought,
to call forth these plants for our worldly use,
to fill this land with firm belief,
to beautify this grassy turf, as the wiseman said
that he would have riches on earth who alms
gave with justice by the grace of the lord.
Then turn thrice with the sun's course, stretch then out lengthwise and enumerate there the litanies and say then:
Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus
to the end. Sing then Benedicite with outstretched arms and Magnificat and Pater noster
thrice, and commend it [the land] to Christ and saint Mary and the holy cross for praise and for worship and for the
benefit of the one who owns that land and all those who are serving under him.4 When all that is done, then let a man
take unknown seed from beggars and give them twice as much as he took from them, and let him gather all his plough
tools together; then let him bore a hole in the beam [of the plough, putting in] incense and fennel and hallowed soap and
hallowed salt. Take then that seed, set it on the plough's body, say then:
Erce, Erce, Erce, earth's mother,
May the all-ruler grant you, the eternal lord,
fields growing and flourishing,
propagating and strengthening,
tall shafts, bright crops,
and broad barley crops,
and white wheat crops,
and all earth's crops.
May the eternal lord grant him,
and his holy ones, who are in heaven,
that his produce be guarded against any enemies whatsoever,
and that it be safe against any harm at all,
from poisons [lyblaca] sown around the land.
Now I bid the Master, who shaped this world,
that there be no speaking-woman [cwidol wif] nor artful man [craeftig man]
that can overturn these words thus spoken.
Then let a man drive forth the plough and the first furrow cuts, say then:
Whole may you be [Be well] earth, mother of men!
May you be growing in God's embrace,
with food filled for the needs of men.
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Take then each kind of flour and have someone bake a loaf [the size of] a hand's palm and knead it with milk and with
holy water and lay it under the first furrow. Say then:
Field full of food for mankind,
bright-blooming, you are blessed
in the holy name of the one who shaped heaven
and the earth on which we live;
the God, the one who made the ground, grant us the gift of growing,
that for us each grain might come to use.
Say then thrice Crescite in nomine patris, sit benedicti [Grow in the name of the father, be blessed]. Amen and Pater
noster three times.