Aldhelm Riddle 42: Strutio
ALEXANDRAREIDER
Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022Grandia membra mihi plumescunt corpore denso;
Par color accipitri, sed dispar causa volandi,
Summa dum exiguis non trano per aethera pennis,
Sed potius pedibus spatior per squalida rura
Ovorum teretes praebens ad pocula testas;
Africa Poenorum me fertur gignere tellus.
The large limbs on my compact body grow feathers.
I am like the hawk in colour, but unlike in the matter of flying
Because I do not travel through the upper air on small wings.
Rather, I walk on my feet through dirty countryside,
Supplying the polished shells of my eggs as cups.
The country said to produce me is Phoenician Africa.
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