Exeter Riddle 67
MEGANCAVELL
Date: Mon 02 Oct 2017Matching Commentaries: Commentary for Exeter Riddle 67
Riddle 67’s translation is by Brett Roscoe of The King’s University, Alberta. Thanks for taking on such a tough riddle, Brett!
Ic on þinge gefrægn þeodcyninges
wrætlice wiht, wordgaldra [. . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .] snytt[. . . . .] hio symle deð
fira gehw[. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5 . . . .] wisdome. Wundor me þæt [. . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .] nænne muð hafað.
fet ne [. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .] welan oft sacað,
cwiþeð cy[. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .] wearð
10 leoda lareow. Forþon nu longe m[.]g
[. . . . . . . . . ] ealdre ece lifgan
missenlice, þenden menn bugað
eorþan sceatas. Ic þæt oft geseah
golde gegierwed, þær guman druncon,
15 since ond seolfre. Secge se þe cunne,
wisfæstra hwylc, hwæt seo wiht sy.
I have heard of a wondrous creature
in the king’s council,(1) magical words [. . .
[. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .] it always does
of men[. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5 . . . . . . .] wisdom. A wonder to me that [. . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .] has no mouth.
No feet [ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . .] often contend for wealth,
says [. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .] “(I) have become
10 a teacher of peoples. Therefore now a long time
[. . . . . . . . .]life eternally live,
in various places, while people inhabit
the expanses of the earth.” I have often seen it,
adorned with gold, treasure and silver,
15 where men drank. Let him who knows,
each one who is wise, say what that creature is.
Notes:
This riddle appears on folio 125v of The Exeter Book.
The above Old English text is based on this edition: Elliott van Kirk Dobbie and George Philip Krapp, eds, The Exeter Book, Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records 3 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1936), page 231.
Note that this edition numbers the text Riddle 65: Craig Williamson, ed., The Old English Riddles of the Exeter Book (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1977), page 106.
Translation Note:
(1) “in the king’s council” can describe either the hearing or the wondrous creature.
Tags: anglo saxon exeter book riddles old english solutions riddle 67
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