Exeter Riddle 88
MEGANCAVELL
Date: Thu 19 Dec 2019Matching Commentaries: Commentary for Exeter Riddle 88
We have a guest translator for this riddle: the one and only Denis Ferhatović. Denis is associate professor of English at Connecticut College and an enthusiast when it comes to poetic creativity. He has brought some of this creativity to the below translation, which I hope you enjoy reading as much as I have!
Original text:
Ic weox þær ic s[……………………
……..]ond sumor mi[…………….
……………]me wæs min ti[…..
……………………
5 …]d ic on staðol[………………..
……….]um geong, swa[……….
……………..]seþeana
oft geond [………………..]fgeaf,
ac ic uplong stod, þær ic [………]
10 ond min broþor; begen wæron hearde.
Eard wæs þy weorðra þe wit on stodan,
hyrstum þy hyrra. Ful oft unc holt wrugon,
wudubeama helm wonnum nihtum,
scildon wið scurum; unc gescop meotud.
15 Nu unc mæran twam magas uncre
sculon æfter cuman, eard oðþringan
gingran broþor. Eom ic gumcynnes
anga ofer eorþan; is min agen bæc
wonn ond wundorlic. Ic on wuda stonde
20 bordes on ende. Nis min broþor her,
ac ic sceal broþorleas bordes on ende
staþol weardian, stondan fæste;
ne wat hwær min broþor on wera æhtum
eorþan sceata eardian sceal,
25 se me ær be healfe heah eardade.
Wit wæron gesome sæcce to fremmanne;
næfre uncer awþer his ellen cyðde,
swa wit þære beadwe begen ne onþungan.
Nu mec unsceafta innan slitað,
30 wyrdaþ mec be wombe; ic gewendan ne mæg.
Æt þam spore findeð sped se þe se[…
………..] sawle rædes.Translation:
I grew where I s[……………………
……..]and summer mi[…………….
……………]me was my ti[…..
……………………
…]d I in the position[………………..
……….]um young, so[……….
……………..] nevertheless,
often throughout [………………..]fgave,
but I stood straight where I [………]
and my brother. We were both hardened.
Our shelter was worthier, adorned more highly,
as the two of us stood on top. The forest always protected us,
on dark nights, its helm of arboreal branches made a shield
against downpours. The Almighty molded us.
Now our kinsmen, our younger brothers
must come after us, and snatch away
our shelter. I am the only human individual
left in the world. My own back is
murky and marvelous. I stand on wood,
on the border of the shield/on the edge of the table/on the margin of the page.(1)
Mi hermano no está aquí.(2)
But I have to guard the position, brotherless
on the border of the shield/on the edge of the table/on the margin of the page.(3)
I must stand unmoved.
No sé dónde mi hermano debe habitar,(4) possessed by men, their property
in what quarter of the world
he who used to shelter high by my side.
We two were one when waging war.
Yet neither could make his valor known
as we were both no good when it came to battle.
Now some degenerates slit my insides,
tear into my abdomen. I cannot escape.
Following these traces finds abundance who […
………..] advantage to the soul.Antler, Inkhorn, Horn, Body and Soul
Notes:
This riddle appears on folios 129r-129v 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), pages 239-40.
Note that this edition numbers the text Riddle 84: Craig Williamson, ed., The Old English Riddles of the Exeter Book (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1977), pages 116-17.
Translation Notes:
(1) and (3) Please see the commentary for more information regarding this multiple translation.
(2) and (4) Likewise, an explanation of the parts in Spanish, and my reason for their use, can be found in the commentary.
Tags: anglo saxon exeter book riddles old english solutions riddle 88 denis ferhatovic
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