RIDDLE POSTS BY ARCHIVE DATE: MAR 2022

Aldhelm Riddle 1: Terra

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 10 Mar 2022
Original text:

Altrix cunctorum, quos mundus gestat, in orbe
Nuncupor (et merito, quia numquam pignora tantum
Improba sic lacerant maternas dente papillas)
Prole virens aestate, tabescens tempore brumae.

Translation:

The nurse of all the things which the world bears in my orbit
I am called (and for good reason, because never have rude
Offspring torn at their mother’s breasts with teeth like this.)
In summer I am flourishing with children, in winter-time I waste away.

Click to show riddle solution?
Earth


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin, Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 2: Ventus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 10 Mar 2022
Original text:

Cernere me nulli possunt nec prendere palmis,
Argutum vocis crepitum cito pando per orbem.
Viribus horrisonis valeo confringere quercus;
Nam superos ego pulso polos et rura peragro.

Translation:

None can see me nor take me in their hands. 
I quickly spread the whistling noise of my voice throughout the world.
With my dreadful-sounding strength I am strong enough to destroy oak trees;
Indeed, I touch the upper heavens and traverse the fields. 

Click to show riddle solution?
Wind


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 3: Nubes

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 10 Mar 2022
Original text:

Versicolor fugiens caelum terramque relinquo,
Non tellure locus mihi, non in parte polorum est:
Exilium nullus modo tam crudele veretur;
Sed madidis mundum faciam frondescere guttis.

Translation:

Multicoloured as I flee, I leave heaven and earth behind.
There is no place on earth for me, none in the territory of the skies:
No one else fears an exile of such cruelty; 
But I make the world grow green with wet drops.

Click to show riddle solution?
Cloud


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 4: Natura

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 10 Mar 2022
Original text:

Crede mihi, res nulla manet sine me moderante
Et frontem faciemque meam lux nulla videbit.
Quis nesciat dicione mea convexa rotari
Alta poli solisque iubar lunaeque meatus?

Translation:

Believe me, nothing exists without my controlling it
And no eye will see my face and brow. 
Who does not know that it is on my authority that the convex heights of heaven
And the glory of the sun and the passage of the moon are turned?

Click to show riddle solution?
Nature


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 5: Iris

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 10 Mar 2022
Original text:

Taumantis proles priscorum famine fingor,
Ast ego prima mei generis rudimenta retexam:
Sole ruber genitus sum partu nubis aquosae;
Lustro polos passim solos, non scando per austros.

Translation:

I am thought of as the offspring of Thaumas in the writings of the ancients,
But I shall recount the first beginnings of my origin:
Red, I was born from the sun through a watery cloud’s production;
I illuminate empty skies everywhere; I do not climb through the winds.

Click to show riddle solution?
Rainbow


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 6: Luna

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 10 Mar 2022
Original text:

Nunc ego cum pelagi fatis communibus insto
Tempora reciprocis convolvens menstrua cyclis:
Ut mihi lucifluae decrescit gloria formae,
Sic augmenta latex redundans gurgite perdit.

Translation:

Now I am present at the commonplace fate of the sea, 
Causing monthly stages with alternating cycles:
For as the glory of my shining shape decreases, 
Thus does the overflowing sea lose its swells in the water.

Click to show riddle solution?
Moon


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin, Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 7: Fatum

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 10 Mar 2022
Original text:

Facundum constat quondam cecinisse poetam:
“Quo Deus et quo dura vocat Fortuna; sequamur!”
Me veteres falso dominam vocitare solebant,
Sceptra regens mundi dum Christi gratia regnet.

Translation:

It is certain that an eloquent poet once sang: 
“Where God and where hard Fortune calls, let us follow!”
The ancients were erroneously accustomed to calling me mistress, 
The one ruling the sceptres of the world, until the grace of Christ shall reign.

Click to show riddle solution?
Fate


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 8: Pliades

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 10 Mar 2022
Original text:

Nos Athlante satas stolidi dixere priores;
Nam septena cohors est, sed vix cernitur una.
Arce poli gradimur nec non sub Tartara terrae;
Furvis conspicimur tenebris et luce latemus
Nomina de verno ducentes tempore prisca.

Translation:

Ignorant ancestors said that we were the children of Atlas.
Our cohort is seven-fold, but one can hardly be seen.
We walk at the top of the sky and under Tartarus in the earth;
We are seen in shadowy darkness and we hide in the light,
Drawing our former name from springtime. 

Click to show riddle solution?
Pleiades


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 9: Adamas

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 12 Mar 2022
Original text:

En ego non vereor rigidi discrimina ferri
Flammarum neu torre cremor, sed sanguine capri
Virtus indomiti mollescit dura rigoris.
Sic cruor exsuperat, quem ferrea massa pavescit.

Translation:

Behold, I do not fear separation through hard iron,
Nor am I burned in a furnace of flames, but by a goat’s blood
Is the hard strength of my indomitable firmness softened. 
Thus blood overcomes what an iron mass fears. 

Click to show riddle solution?
Adamant


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 10: Molosus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 12 Mar 2022
Original text:

Sic me iamdudum rerum veneranda potestas
Fecerat, ut domini truculentos persequar hostes;
Rictibus arma gerens bellorum praelia patro
Et tamen infantum fugiens mox verbera vito.

Translation:

Long ago a venerable power of things made me
Such that I will hunt my master’s cruel enemies;
Bearing arms in my mouth I effect war’s battles, 
Though I will immediately flee a child to escape beatings. 

Click to show riddle solution?
The Molossus Dog


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 11: Poalum

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 12 Mar 2022
Original text:

Flatibus alternis vescor cum fratre gemello;
Non est vita mihi, cum sint spiracula vitae.
Ars mea gemmatis dedit ornamenta metallis:
Qratia nulla datur mihi, sed capit alter honorem.

Translation:

With my twin brother, I am fed by alternating blasts.
I am not alive, although I do have air holes. 
My craft gives ornament to jewelled metals: 
No thanks are given to me, but another takes the honour. 

Click to show riddle solution?
Bellows


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 12: Bombix

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 12 Mar 2022
Original text:

Annua dum redeunt texendi tempora telas,
Lurida setigeris redundant viscera filis,
Moxque genestarum frondosa cacumina scando,
Ut globulos fabricans tum fati sorte quiescam.

Translation:

Until the yearly time for weaving cloths returns, 
My pale innards abound with silken threads, 
And I soon climb up the leafy peaks of broom,
So that, after making the little balls, I may then rest in fate’s destiny.

Click to show riddle solution?
Silkworm


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 13: Barbita

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 12 Mar 2022
Original text:

Quamvis aere cavo salpictae classica clangant
Et citharae crepitent strepituque tubae modulentur,
Centenos tamen eructant mea viscera cantus;
Me praesente stupet mox musica chorda fibrarum.

Translation:

Although trumpeters may blow trumpets made of hollow bronze
And harps may sound and pipes perform with their din,
My insides nevertheless belch out a hundred songs;
With me present, the stringed musical instrument is soon become powerless.

Click to show riddle solution?
Organ


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 14: Pavo

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 12 Mar 2022
Original text:

Sum namque excellens specie, mirandus in orbe,
Ossibus ac nervis ac rubro sanguine cretus.
Cum mihi vita comes fuerit, nihil aurea forma
Plus rubet et moriens mea numquam pulpa putrescit.

Translation:

I am certainly excellent in appearance, to be wondered at around the world,
And yet grown from bones and muscles and red blood.
While life will be my companion, no golden form
Glows more red, and, dying, my flesh never rots. 

Click to show riddle solution?
Peacock


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 15: Salamandra

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 12 Mar 2022
Original text:

Ignibus in mediis vivens non sentio flammas,
Sed detrimenta rogi penitus ludibria faxo.
Nec crepitante foco nec scintillante favilla
Ardeo, sed flammae flagranti torre tepescunt.

Translation:

Living among fires, I do not feel flames,
But I will make utter trifles of the fire’s damages.
Neither in the crackling fire nor in the glowing embers
Do I burn; rather, the flames of the blazing fire grow weaker.

Click to show riddle solution?
Salamander


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 16: Luligo

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 12 Mar 2022
Original text:

Nunc cernenda placent nostrae spectacula vitae:
Cum grege piscoso scrutor maris aequora squamis,
Cum volucrum turma quoque scando per aethera pennis
Et tamen aethereo non possum vivere flatu.

Translation:

Now the spectacles of my life are pleasing to behold:
With a school of scaly fish, I search the waters of the sea,
With a flock of winged birds, I also ascend through the aether,
And yet I cannot live with a breath of air.

Click to show riddle solution?
Squid


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 17: Perna

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 12 Mar 2022
Original text:

E geminis nascor per ponti caerula concis
Vellera setigero producens corpore fulva;
En clamidem pepli necnon et pabula pulpae
Confero: sic duplex fati persolvo tributum.

Translation:

From twin shells I am born in the blue waters of the sea,
Producing golden pelts from my bristly body.
See, I confer cloaks from my fabric and also food 
From my flesh: thus I pay my two-fold debt to fate.

Click to show riddle solution?
Mussel


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 18: Myrmicoleon

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 12 Mar 2022
Original text:

Dudum compositis ego nomen gesto figuris:
Ut leo, sic formica vocor sermone Pelasgo
Tropica nominibus signans praesagia duplis,
Cum rostris avium nequeam resistere rostro.
Scrutetur sapiens, gemino cur nomine fungar!

Translation:

Long have I had a name of composed form:
As “lion,” so “ant” am I called in the Greek language,
Signifying figurative indications with my two names,
Though I am unable to defend against birds’ beaks with a beak.
May a wise man seek why I am called this twin-name!

Click to show riddle solution?
Ant-lion


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 19: Salis

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 12 Mar 2022
Original text:

Dudum limpha fui squamoso pisce redundans,
Sed natura novo fati discrimine cessit,
Torrida dum calidos patior tormenta per ignes:
Nam cineri facies nivibusque simillima nitet.

Translation:

Once I was water, abundant with scaly fish, 
But this nature ended through a new decision of fate,
When I suffer scorching torments amid the hot fires:
For my face glitters, very like ash and snow. 

Click to show riddle solution?
Salt


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 20: Apis

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 12 Mar 2022
Original text:

Mirificis formata modis, sine semine creta
Dulcia florigeris onero praecordia praedis;
Arte mea crocea flavescunt fercula regum.
Semper acuta gero crudelis spicula belli
Atque carens manibus fabrorum vinco metalla.

Translation:

Formed in miraculous ways, made without seed,
I load my sweet insides with loot from flowers; 
Through my craft the food of kings grows golden.
I always carry the sharp weapons of fierce war
And, lacking hands, I outperform smiths in metal-work.

Click to show riddle solution?
Bee


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 21: Lima

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 12 Mar 2022
Original text:

Corpore sulcato nec non ferrugine glauca
Sum formata fricans rimis informe metallum.
Auri materias massasque polire sueta
Piano superficiem constans asperrima rerum;
Garrio voce carens rauco cum murmure stridens.

Translation:

With a grooved body and an iron shine 
I am made for grinding unformed metal with my furrows.
Accustomed to polishing golden materials and masses, 
I even out the surface of things while remaining very rough;
Lacking in voice, I harshly utter a hoarse whisper. 

Click to show riddle solution?
File


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 22: Acalantida

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 12 Mar 2022
Original text:

Vox mea diversis variatur pulcra figuris,
Raucisonis numquam modulabor carmina rostris; 
Spurca colore tamen, sed non sum spreta canendo:
Sic non cesso canens fato terrente futuro;
Nam me bruma fugat, sed mox aestate redibo.

Translation:

My beautiful voice is transformed through different arrangements,
I shall never sing my songs with a hoarse-sounding beak;
Though dusky in colour, I am not contemptible while singing:
Thus I do not stop singing in fear of a future fate:
For winter drives me out, but I will return immediately in summer.

Click to show riddle solution?
Nightingale


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 23: Trutina

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 12 Mar 2022
Original text:

Nos geminas olim genuit natura sorores,
Quas iugiter rectae legis censura gubernat;
Temnere personas et ius servare solemus.
Felix in terra fieret mortalibus aevum,
Iustitiae normam si servent more sororum.

Translation:

Long ago, nature made us, twin sisters,
Whom the observation of just law eternally governs;
We are accustomed to rejecting individuals and protecting justice.
Happy would that age be for mortals on earth
If they would honour the norm of justice as we sisters do.

Click to show riddle solution?
Pair of scales


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 24: Dracontia

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 12 Mar 2022
Original text:

Me caput horrentis fertur genuisse draconis;
Augeo purpureis gemmarum lumina fucis,
Sed mihi non dabitur rigida virtute potestas,
Si prius occumbat squamoso corpore natrix,
Quam summo spolier capitis de vertice rubra.

Translation:

The head of a horrible dragon is reported to have produced me.
I increase the shine of gems with my crimson colour, 
But the power of great strength will not be given to me
If the snake with a scaly body should die
Before I am plundered, red, from the very top of its head.

Click to show riddle solution?
Dragon-stone


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm 

Aldhelm Riddle 25: Magnes ferrifer

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 12 Mar 2022
Original text:

Vis mihi naturae dedit, immo creator Olimpi,
Id, quo cuncta carent veteris miracula mundi.
Frigida nam chalibis suspendo metalla per auras:
Vi quadam superans sic ferrea fata revinco;
Mox adamante Cypri praesente potentia fraudor.

Translation:

The strength of nature, or rather the creator of heaven, gave to me
That which is lacking in all the miracles of the old world. 
For I raise cold steely metals through the air:
Conquering thus by means of this specific strength, I overcome iron fates again;
In the presence of Cyprian adamant, I am immediately defrauded of my power.

Click to show riddle solution?
Iron-attracting Magnet


Notes:

This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.



Tags: riddles  latin  Aldhelm