{"id":5689,"date":"2020-01-02T08:37:40","date_gmt":"2020-01-02T13:37:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/?page_id=5689"},"modified":"2020-01-17T12:13:20","modified_gmt":"2020-01-17T17:13:20","slug":"exeter-riddle-9","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/translations\/exeter-riddle-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Exeter Riddle 9"},"content":{"rendered":"

Having recently translated\u00a0Riddle<\/em> 9 from the Exeter Book (Exeter Cathedral Library MS 3501) in my recent blog on esotericism in a sequence of Old English riddles (\u201cEncoded References in Exeter Book Bird-Riddles<\/a>\u201c), I have decided to add my translation and recitation of this poetic enigma for our ongoing\u00a0medieval poetry translation and recitation project.<\/a>\u00a0I accept the Old English solution\u00a0geac<\/em> \u201ccuckoo\u201d as the poem\u2019s solution based on parallel descriptions of the bird\u2019s experiences from its abandonment\u2014to fostering\u2014and finally betrayal of its host family found in Pliny’s\u00a0Naturalis Historia<\/em>\u00a0X<\/a>.xi-26-27, which describes the treacherous cuckoo (cuculus<\/em>) in virtually identical terms.<\/p>\n

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Exeter Book Riddle 9, Exeter Cathedral Library MS3051, f.103r. Image reproduced with permission of the University of Exeter Digital Humanities and the Dean & Chapter, Exeter Cathedral.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n


\nOld English\u00a0Riddle<\/em> 9<\/strong>\u00a0(solution:\u00a0geac<\/em>):<\/p>\n

Mec on \u00feissum dagum \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 deadne\u00a0ofgeafun\u00a0<\/em>
\nf\u00e6der ond modor; \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ne w\u00e6s me feorh \u00fea gen,\u00a0<\/em>
\nealdor in innan. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00fea mec\u00a0an\u00a0ongon,\u00a0<\/em>
\nwelhold mege, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 wedum\u00a0\u00feeccan,\u00a0<\/em>
\nheold ond freo\u00feode, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 hleosceorpe wrah\u00a0<\/em>
\nswa\u00a0arlice \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 swa hire agen bearn,\u00a0<\/em>
\no\u00fe\u00fe\u00e6t ic under sceate, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 swa min gesceapu w\u00e6ron,\u00a0<\/em>
\nungesibbum wear\u00f0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 eacen g\u00e6ste.\u00a0<\/em>
\nMec seo fri\u00fee m\u00e6g \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 fedde si\u00fe\u00fean,\u00a0<\/em>
\no\u00fe\u00fe\u00e6t ic aweox, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 widdor meahte\u00a0<\/em>
\nsi\u00feas asettan. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Heo h\u00e6fde sw\u00e6sra \u00fey l\u00e6s\u00a0<\/em>
\nsuna ond dohtra, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00fey heo swa dyde.<\/em><\/p>\n

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A Chick of Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) in nest of Marsh Warbler (Acrocephalus palustris). Ryazan region (Ryazanskaya oblast), the Pronsky District, Denisovo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cExeter Book Cuckoo-Riddle:\u201d A Modern English Translation by Richard Fahey:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIn these days, father and mother gave me up for dead. There was no life yet in me, no spirit within. Then one well-meaning kinsman began to wake me in my garment, held and sheltered me, wrapped me in protective-gear so tenderly as her own child, until I, under her cover, became enlarged in spirit among my non-siblings as was my destiny. Afterward, that protective kinswoman fed me until I grew up, and could make wider journeys. She had fewer of her own sons and daughters because she did so.\u201d<\/p>\n