Aldhelm Riddle 51: Eliotropus
ALEXANDRAREIDER
Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022Original text:
Sponte mea nascor fecundo cespite vernans;
Fulgida de croceo flavescunt culmina flore.
Occiduo claudor, sic orto sole patesco:
Unde prudentes posuerunt nomina Graeci.
Translation:
I am born in a fertile field, flourishing of my own accord;
The shining peaks grow yellow with golden blossom.
When the sun is in the west I am closed, and by the same token I open at sunrise:
Whence the wise Greeks set my name.
Heliotrope
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