{"id":5393,"date":"2019-12-06T11:47:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-06T16:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/?p=5393"},"modified":"2021-03-29T23:04:18","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T03:04:18","slug":"encoded-references-in-exeter-book-riddles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/2019\/12\/06\/encoded-references-in-exeter-book-riddles\/","title":{"rendered":"Encoded References in Exeter Book Bird-Riddles"},"content":{"rendered":"

In continuing my discussion of cryptic information encoded in runes<\/a> in the Exeter Book Riddles<\/em>, in which I argue runic literacy functions as a form of esotericism, I wish to expand the conversation by considering the variety of specialized information contained in a group of Old English riddles featured in the collection (Riddles<\/em> 7-10). I will refer to these as bird-riddles, by which I mean specifically a group of potentially related riddles in the Exeter Book whose accepted solutions are birds. As this description promises, these riddles feature bird imagery and their riddle-speaker is generally a specific bird of some kind. Patrick Murphy has suggested that bird-riddle imagery may act also as a mode of obfuscation in the Exeter Book Riddles<\/em>, and he contends that in Riddle<\/em> 57, letters (litterae<\/em>), or rune-staves (runstafas <\/em>or bocstafas<\/em>), are probably the best solution to this verbal puzzle, which Murphy argues likens flocking black birds to letters forming words on vellum or parchment.<\/p>\n

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George Hodan, \u201cFlock Of Birds\u201d (2007-2019).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Exeter Book bird-riddles display a range of references, as they encode learned and folkloric knowledge. Most of the bird-riddles contain specific references to an encyclopedic source of medieval knowledge, Isidore of Seville<\/a>\u2019s Etymologiae<\/em><\/a>, which endeavors to define, interpret and explicate the Latin words contained therein. While Isidore reports his share of false etymologies, his text is widely considered authoritative with regard to the study of Latin terminology during the Middle Ages. Mercedes Salvador-Bello has demonstrated the profound extent to which information and even organization principles outlined in Isidore\u2019s Etymologiae<\/em><\/a> serve as models for zoological Exeter Book Riddles<\/em>, though not all of the clues in the Old English riddles are shared by this Latin source (in fact, many times the information contained diverges significantly).<\/p>\n

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Diagrams of the path of the Sun and the phases of the moon; from Isidore of Seville, “Etymologies” (11th century), British Library, Royal MS 6 C I, f.30r<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Most of the Exeter Book bird-riddles rely on some form of esotericism and references to specific information. I now will briefly consider three of bird-riddles, which encode specialized knowledge and may be associated with Isidore\u2019s Etymologiae<\/em><\/a> in addition to other classical sources, especially Pliny’s\u00a0Historia naturalis<\/em><\/a>. Furthermore, numerous riddle collections from early medieval England likewise feature bird-riddles, such as Anglo-Latin enigmata <\/em>composed by authors such as Aldhelm (Enigmata<\/em> 14, 22, 26, 31, 35, 42, 47, 57, 63-64) and Eusebius (Enigmata<\/em> 38, 56-60),\u00a0 a Latin literary tradition interwoven with its vernacular counterpart as Dieter Bitterli and other scholars have shown. Old English bird-riddles that seem to allude to Isidore\u2019s Etymologiae<\/em> XII<\/a>, include Riddle<\/em> 7<\/a> (solved swon<\/em> \u201cswan\u201d), Riddle<\/em> 8<\/a> (solve nihtegale<\/em> \u201cnightingale\u201d), Riddle<\/em> 9<\/a> (solved geac<\/em> \u201ccuckoo\u201d) and Riddle<\/em> 24<\/a> (solved higora<\/em> \u201cmagpie\u201d). Today’s discussion will center on Riddles<\/em> 7-10 from the Exeter Book collection.<\/p>\n

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Exeter Book Riddle 7, 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\n\n\n\n\n
Riddle<\/em> 7<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hr\u00e6gl min swiga\u00f0, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00feonne ic hrusan trede,\u00a0<\/em>
\no\u00fe\u00fee \u00fea wic buge, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 o\u00fe\u00fee wado drefe.\u00a0<\/em>
\nHwilum mec ahebba\u00f0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ofer h\u00e6le\u00fea byht\u00a0<\/em>
\nhyrste mine, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ond \u00feeos hea lyft,\u00a0<\/em>
\nond mec \u00feonne wide \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 wolcna strengu\u00a0<\/em>
\nofer folc byre\u00f0. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fr\u00e6twe mine\u00a0<\/em>
\nswoga\u00f0 hlude \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ond swinsia\u00f0,\u00a0<\/em>
\ntorhte singa\u00f0, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00feonne ic getenge ne beom\u00a0<\/em>
\nflode ond foldan, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ferende g\u00e6st.<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u201cMy dress is mute, when I tread the ground, or occupy my abode or stir the water. Sometimes my garments and this high wind heave me over the city of heroes, and then the strength of the skies bears me far and wide over the people. My adornments then resound loudly, and ring, and sing brightly, when I am not hanging on sea or land, a traveling spirit.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The muted attire of the swan (swon<\/em>) does not feature in the Etymologiae<\/em>, and its feathers do not sing when in flight . The swan (cygnus<\/em>) does produce cantus dulcissimos<\/em> “the sweetest songs” according to Isidore’s Etymologiae<\/em> XII.vii.1, and the etymological relationship between the swan and its song<\/a> is repeatedly stressed, namely how cycnus autem a canendo est appellatus, eo quod carminis dulcedinem modulatis vocibus fundit<\/em> “moreover, the swan is named for singing because it unleashes the sweetness of song with modulated voice” (Etymologiae<\/em> XII.vii.18). However, this reference and emphasis on the creature’s beautiful vocalization probably does not explain the full extent of learned references in this riddle. The image of the swan’s melodious feathers is found also in the Old English Phoenix <\/em><\/a>(131-39), and both J. D. A. Ogilvy and Craig Williamson consider these possible references to an epistle that describes the sweet and harmonious song of the swan’s wings by Gregorius Naziansenus to Celeusius, a Latin translation of which they believe may have circulated in early medieval England.<\/p>\n

As with other bird-riddles, Exeter Book Riddle<\/em> 7 refers to the bird’s hyrst <\/em>“garment” (4). The word hyrst <\/em>seems to be a repeated clue encoded in numerous bird-riddles, though the term itself operates somewhat more ambiguously, rather than making direct mention of feathers or otherwise explicit references to their riddle-subjects’ physicality.<\/p>\n

Like Riddle<\/em> 7, the speaker of Exeter Book Riddle<\/em> 8 is clearly also some kind of songbird. Emphasis on this aspect exceeds even its treatment in the previous riddle.<\/p>\n

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Exeter Book Riddle 8, 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\n\n\n\n\n
Riddle<\/em> 8<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ic \u00feurh mu\u00fe sprece\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 mongum reordum,<\/em>
\nwrencum singe,\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 wrixle geneahhe<\/em>
\nheafodwo\u00fee,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 hlude cirme,<\/em>
\nhealde mine wisan,\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 hleo\u00fere ne mi\u00fee,<\/em>
\neald \u00e6fensceop,\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 eorlum bringe<\/em>
\nblisse in burgum,\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00feonne ic bugendre<\/em>
\nstefne styrme;\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 stille on wicum<\/em>
\nsitta\u00f0 nigende.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Saga hw\u00e6t ic hatte,<\/em>
\n\u00fee swa scirenige\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 sceawendwisan<\/em>
\nhlude onhyrge, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0h\u00e6le\u00feum bodige<\/em>
\nwilcumena fela\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 wo\u00fee minre.<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u201cThrough my mouth, I speak with many voices, I sing in variations. Frequently, I mix head-sounds. I cry out aloud, I keep my counsel. I do not conceal my voice. The old evening-poet brings bliss to men in cities, when I storm the citizens with my voice. They sit still, listening in their homes. Say what I am called, who so clearly proclaims loudly a feasting song, announces to heroes, many welcome things with my voice.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Common Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As with the swan, Isidore includes the nightingale in his catalogue of birds, stating that luscinia avis inde nomen sumpsit, quia cantu suo significare solet diei surgentis exortum<\/em> \u201cthe nightingale is a bird that took its name because it is accustomed to mark the onset of the coming day by its song\u201d Etymologiae<\/em> XII.vii.37. This stress on the nightingale\u2019s singing in the wee hours of the morning\u2014in the dark calling the day\u2014is alluded to in the characterization of the nightingale (nihtegale<\/em>) as \u00e6fensceop <\/em>\u201cevening poet\u201d (5), though surely calling the bird uhtsceop<\/em> \u201cdaybreak-poet\u201d would have been closer to Isidore\u2019s suggestion that the nightingale (luscinia<\/em>) summons the lux<\/em> \u201clight\u201d specifically with its call, Latin terms the medieval lexicographer contends may be etymologically related.<\/p>\n

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Ambrose’s “Hexameron” (12th century), located in British Library, Royal MS 6 A.i, f1.r<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the other hand, considering niht<\/em> \u201cnight\u201d is referenced in the Old English word for this bird (nihtegale<\/em>), emphasis on \u00e6fen <\/em>\u201cevening\u201d would serve as a better vernacular clue. Salvador-Bello points out that the many voices of the nightingale (luscinia<\/em>) may suggest knowledge of a passage from Pliny\u2019s Historia naturalis<\/em> (X.xliii.82-85), while Williamson posits this information may also come from Ambrose\u2019 Hexameron<\/em> (V.xxiv.85), as both texts emphasize the varied tones featured in the nightingale\u2019s song<\/a> in their discussion of this melodious songbird.<\/p>\n

Of course, more obvious and likely is the reference in Aldhelm’s Enigma<\/em>\u00a0 22, solved acalantida<\/em> (another Latin word for nightingale) reference directly after luscinia<\/em> by Isidore (Etymologiae<\/em> XII.vii.37). Aldhelm’s riddle explains how vox mea diversis variatur pulcra figuris,\/ raucisonis numquam modulabor carmina rostris<\/em> “my beautiful voice is varied by diverse styles, never will I sing songs with raucous beak” (1-2), which accounts for emphasis on how ic \u00feurh mu\u00fe sprece mongum reordum,\/ <\/em>wrencum singe<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>“through my mouth, I speak with many voices, I sing in variations” (1-2) in Exeter Book Riddle<\/em> 8. Aldhelm’s Enigma<\/em> 22 also states that\u00a0non sum spreta canendo\/ sic non cesso canens fato terrente futuro<\/em> “I am not to be spurned for my singing, thus I do not stop singing even if doomed to a terrifying fate” (3-4), which corresponds to the description of reverence for the riddle-speaker’s song in the Old English bird-riddle.<\/p>\n

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Aldhelm’s “Enigma 22” (De acalantida), located in British Library, Royal MS C XXIII, f86v.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Moreover, Riddle<\/em> 8 describes the nightingale (nihtegale<\/em>) as \u00e6fensceop <\/em>\u201can evening poet\u201d (5), employing stock imagery in order to misdirect the solver, and allowing the riddle to expound on the nocturnal songs of the nightingale under the guise of storytelling and heroic tales. That the \u00e6fensceop<\/em> \u201cevening poet\u201d is said to scirenige sceawendwisan\/<\/em> hlude onhyrge, h\u00e6le\u00feum bodige<\/em> \u201cclearly proclaim a feasting song, declare loudly, announce to heroes\u201d (9-10) further extends the equivocation between bird and poet. Riddle<\/em> 8 thereby uses formulaic language and heroic diction to obfuscate the riddle\u2019s solution, again referencing h\u00e6le\u00fea <\/em>(10) as previously in Riddle<\/em> 7 (3). Moreover, the notion that people revere the nightingale\u2019s song and sit in attention\u2014as warriors listening intently to heroic poetry\u2014is corroborated by Alcuin\u2019s elegy devoted to this songbird, titled De luscinia<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Although the term hyrst <\/em>“garment” from Riddle <\/em>7 does not appear in Exeter Book Riddle<\/em> 9, the theme of clothing and adornments nevertheless pervades this riddle.<\/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\n\n\n\n\n
Riddle 9<\/em><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\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.\u00a0<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\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<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In this riddle, the cuckoo (geac<\/em>) is described as if it were a shapeshifter, and its famously treacherous behavior is stressed, as much of the paradox is centered on questions of kinship and the evolution of the bird’s experience from its abandonment\u2014to fostering\u2014and finally betrayal of its host family. Most of these details are outlined by Pliny the Elder<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Pliny’s “Historia Naturalis” (Liber X) from 12th century manuscript, British Library, Arundel MS 98, f85v.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Pliny, Naturalis Historia<\/em> X<\/a>.xi-26-27<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
26. inter quae parit in alienis nidis, maxime palumbium, maiore ex parte singula ova, quod nulla alia avis, raro bina. causa pullos subiciendi putatur quod sciat se invisam cunctis avibus; nam minutae quoque infestant. ita non fore tutam generi suo stirpem opinatur, ni fefellerit; quare nullum facit nidum, alioqui trepidum animal.<\/em> 27. educat ergo subditum adulterato feta nido. ille, avidus ex natura, praeripit cibos reliquis pullis, itaque pinguescit et nitidus in se nutricem convertit. illa gaudet eius specie miraturque sese ipsam, quod talem pepererit; suos comparatione eius damnat ut alienos absumique etiam se inspectante patitur, donec corripiat ipsam quoque, iam volandi potens. nulla tunc avium suavitate carnis comparatur illi.<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u201cIt always lays its eggs in the nest of another bird, and that of the ring-dove more especially, mostly a single egg, a thing that is the case with no other bird; sometimes however, but very rarely, it is known to lay two. It is supposed, that the reason for its thus substituting its young ones, is the fact that it is aware how greatly it is hated by all the other birds; for even the very smallest of them will attack it. Hence it is, that it thinks its own race will stand no chance of being perpetuated unless it contrives to deceive them, and for this reason builds no nest of its own: and besides this, it is a very timid animal. In the meantime, the female bird, sitting on her nest, is rearing a supposititious and spurious progeny; while the young cuckoo, which is naturally craving and greedy, snatches away all the food from the other young ones, and by so doing grows plump and sleek, and quite gains the affections of his foster-mother; who takes a great pleasure in his fine appearance, and is quite surprised that she has become the mother of so handsome an offspring. In comparison with him, she discards her own young as so many strangers, until at last, when the young cuckoo is now able to take the wing, he finishes by devouring her. For sweetness of the flesh, there is not a bird in existence to be compared to the cuckoo at this season\u201d (translation by John Bostock<\/a>).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The parasitic nature of the cuckoo\u00a0is referenced in Isidore’s Etymologiae<\/em>, but the nature of their freeloading is quite different, as instead the cuckoo (cuculus<\/em>) is accused of having milvorum scapulis suscepti propter breves et parvos volatus<\/em> “taken up with the wings of kites because of its [the cuckoo’s] brief and short flight” (XII.vii.67). Isidore also notes that avium nomina multa a sono vocis constat esse conposita<\/em> “many names of birds appear to be construed from the sound of their voice” (XII.vii.9), and includes the cuckoo (cuculus<\/em>) in his list along with the swan (cyngus<\/em>), but this detail is not mentioned in the Old English riddle.<\/p>\n

Now for Riddle<\/em> 10, the final and only bird-riddle in this sequence, whose riddle-subject appears nowhere in Isidore’s Etymologiae<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Exeter Book Riddle 10, Exeter Cathedral Library MS3051, f.103v. Image reproduced with permission of the University of Exeter Digital Humanities and the Dean & Chapter, Exeter Cathedral.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Riddle<\/em> 10<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Neb w\u00e6s min on nearwe , ond ic neo\u00fean w\u00e6tre,
\n<\/em>flode underflowen,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 firgenstreamum
\n<\/em>swi\u00fee besuncen, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0ond on sunde awox
\n<\/em>ufan y\u00feum \u00feeaht,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 anum getenge
\n<\/em>li\u00feendum wuda\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 lice mine .
\n<\/em>H\u00e6fde feorh cwico,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00fea ic of f\u00e6\u00f0mum cwom
\n<\/em>brimes ond beames\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 on blacum hr\u00e6gle.
\n<\/em>Sume w\u00e6ron hwite\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 hyrste mine,
\n<\/em>\u00fea mec lifgende\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 lyft upp ahof,
\n<\/em>wind of w\u00e6ge,\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0si\u00fe\u00fean wide b\u00e6r
\n<\/em>ofer seolhba\u00feo.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Saga hw\u00e6t ic hatte.<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u201cMy beak was in narrowness, and I was beneath the water, I was subsumed by the ocean, I was sunk deep in the briny current. I awoke in my swimming, covered over by waves, near those travelers of wood, with my body. I had a living spirit, when I came from the bosom of sea and tree in black garments. Some of my decorations were white, when the breeze heaved me up, living, the wind from the wave, after that it bore me widely across the seal-bath. Say what I am called.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As mentioned, Riddle<\/em> 10 is unique because\u2014unlike the other subjects of Exeter Book bird-riddles\u2014the barnacle goose (bernaca<\/em>) is conspicuously absent from the catalogue of birds in Isidore’s Etymologiae<\/em>. The riddle is rather generic in its description of the bird being on blacum hr\u00e6gle<\/em> \u201cin black garments\u201d (7), and wearing white hyrste <\/em>\u201cdecorations\u201d (8). Moreover, the description of how lyft upp ahof<\/em> \u201cthe breeze heaves me up\u201d (9) echoes other bird-riddles. However, the solution can be deduced if one is familiar with Insular folklore surrounding the barnacle goose (bernaca<\/em>), first attested in this riddle but corroborated by later sources such as Gerald of Wales\u2019 Topographia Hiberniae <\/em>(c.1188). <\/em>This legend suggests that the barnacle goose is born by spontaneous generation on trees that grow over water. And, there is an added level of equivocation resulting from a homographic pun on hyrst<\/em> (8), which could refer either to the masculine noun hyrst<\/em> \u201ccopse, wood\u201d or more likely to the feminine noun hyrst<\/em>, meaning \u201cornament, decoration, trapping\u201d and this pun connects the bird\u2019s physical characteristics with its unnatural birth from water and wood. If the solver is familiar with this insular barnacle goose legend, the solution is revealed, but if not it is obscured.<\/p>\n

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Owl and other birds from medieval bestiary, British Library, Harley MS 4751, f47r.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A careful source study of this sequence of Exeter Book bird-riddles (Riddles<\/em> 7-10) demonstrates how although Isidore’s Etymologiae<\/em> does discuss three of the four bird-riddles in the group, in many cases the specifics of the Old English riddles reference information in sources a bit more ancient and esoteric, and other sources from classical Latin (such as Pliny’s Historia naturalis<\/em>) to more contemporary Old English (such as the Exeter Book Phoenix<\/em>) and Anglo-Latin (such as Aldhelm’s Enigma<\/em> 22) offer arcane details displayed in the riddles more precisely. This suggests that while Salvador-Bello may have identified an Isidorean orientation, intellectual framework and organizing principle behind the Exeter Book Riddles<\/em>, Old English riddlers and enigmatists were reaching beyond the Etymologiae<\/em> and further afield into more obscure territory, especially folklore and esotericism, when creating their verbal puzzles in early medieval England.<\/p>\n

Richard Fahey
\nPhD in English
\nUniversity of Notre Dame<\/p>\n

Editions and Translations:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Aldhelm. Aldhelmi Opera <\/em>(MGH), edited by Rudolf Ehwald, 211-326. Berolini and Weidmann, 1961.<\/p>\n

\u2014. Enigmata<\/em>. In Variae collectiones aenigmatum Merovingicae aetatis<\/em> (CCSL 133), edited by Maria De Marco, 359-540. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 1968.<\/p>\n

\u2014. Aldhelm: The Poetic Works<\/em>. Translated by Michael Lapidge and James L. Rosier. Dover, NH: D. S. Brewer, 1985.<\/p>\n

Eusebius. Enigmata<\/em>. In Variae collectiones aenigmatum Merovingicae aetatis<\/em> (CCSL 133), edited by Maria De Marco, 209-71. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 1968.<\/p>\n

Exeter Anthology of Old English Poetry<\/em>. Edited by Bernard J. Muir. Exeter, UK: University of Exeter Press, 1994.<\/p>\n

The Old English Riddles of the Exeter Book<\/em>. Edited by Craig Williamson. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1977.<\/p>\n

Isidore of Seville. The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville<\/em>. Translated by Stephen A. Barney. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2006.<\/a><\/p>\n

Pliny, The Elder. Natural History, with an English Translation. <\/em>Edited and translated by H. Rackham. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1943.<\/p>\n

\u2014. The Natural History. Edited and translated by John Bostock and H.T. Riley. London, UK: Taylor & Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, 1855.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Tatwine and Eusebius. \u201cThe Riddles of Tatwine and Eusebius.\u201d Edited and translated by Mary J. M. Williams. Dissertation: University of Michigan, 1974.<\/p>\n

Works Cited and Further Reading:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Bayless, Martha. \u201cAlcuin’s\u00a0Disputatio Pippini<\/em>\u00a0and the Early Medieval Riddle Tradition.\u201d In\u00a0Humour, History and Politics in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages<\/em>, edited by Guy Halsall, 157-78. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001.<\/p>\n

Bitterli, Dieter. Say What I Am Called: The Old English Riddles of the Exeter Book and the Anglo-Latin Riddle Tradition<\/em>. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press, 2009.<\/p>\n

Dailey, Patricia. \u201cRiddles, Wonder and Responsiveness in Anglo-Saxon England.\u201d In Early Medieval English Literature<\/em>, edited by Clare A. Lees, 451-72. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2012.<\/p>\n

Fahey, Richard. \u201cReading Runes in the Exeter Book Riddles<\/a>.\u201d Medieval Studies Research Blog<\/em>. University of Notre Dame, Medieval Institute. February 17, 2017.<\/p>\n

Murphy, Patrick. Unriddling the Exeter Riddles<\/em>. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2011.<\/p>\n

Ogilvy, Jack D. A. Books Known to the English, 597-1066<\/em>. Cambridge, MA: Mediaeval Academy of America, 1967.<\/p>\n

Orchard, Andy. \u201cEnigma Variations: The Anglo-Saxon Riddle-Tradition.\u201d In Latin Learning and Old English Lore: Studies in Anglo-Saxon Literature for Michael Lapidge, <\/em>edited by Katherine O\u2019Brien O\u2019Keeffe and Andy Orchard, 284-304. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press, 2005.<\/p>\n

Salvador-Bello, Mercedes. Isidorean Perceptions of Order: The Exeter Book Riddles and Medieval Latin Enigmata. <\/em>Morgantown, WV. West Virginia University Press, 2015.<\/p>\n

Williamson, Craig. A Feast of Creatures: Anglo-Saxon Riddle-Songs<\/em>. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In continuing my discussion of cryptic information encoded in runes in the Exeter Book Riddles, in which I argue runic literacy functions as a form of esotericism, I wish to expand the conversation by considering the variety of specialized information contained in a group of Old English riddles featured in the collection (Riddles 7-10). I … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Encoded References in Exeter Book Bird-Riddles”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1886,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56012,264216,73957,469271],"tags":[324792,324796,324789,76029,324787,324786,324794,264239,324788,77962,324790,76077,324797,76075,324791],"class_list":["post-5393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english","category-manuscript-studies","category-north-seas","category-puzzles-enigmas","tag-barnacle-goose","tag-cuckoo","tag-etymologiae","tag-exeter-book","tag-folklore","tag-gerald-of-wales","tag-historia-naturalis","tag-isidore-of-seville","tag-latin-learning","tag-natural-history","tag-nightingale","tag-old-english","tag-pliny-the-elder","tag-riddles","tag-swan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1886"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5393"}],"version-history":[{"count":89,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7669,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5393\/revisions\/7669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}