Riddle Ages

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

Aldhelm Riddle 26: Gallus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 12 Mar 2022

Original text:

Garrulus in tenebris rutilos cecinisse solebam

Augustae lucis radios et lumina Phoebi;

Penniger experto populorum nomine fungor.

Arma ferens pedibus belli diserimina faxo

Serratas capitis gestans in vertice cristas.

Translation:

Garrulous in the darkness, I was accustomed to predicting the radiant

Rays of venerable light and the glory of Phoebus;

Feathered, I go by the known name of a people.

Carrying weapons on my feet I undertake the hazards of war,

Bearing a serrated crest on top of my head.

Click to show riddle solution?

Cock

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 27: Coticula

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 12 Mar 2022

Original text:

Frigidus ex gelido prolatus viscere terrae

Duritiem ferri quadrata fronte polibo

Atque senectutis vereor diserimina numquam,

Mulcifer annorum numerum ni dempserit igne;

Mox rigida species mollescit torribus atris.

Translation:

Brought forth cold from the frozen innards of the earth,

I will polish the hardness of iron with my squared face,

And I will never fear the hazards of old age

Unless Vulcan take away from my number of years with fire;

My rigid appearance immediately becomes soft in dark flames.

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Whetstone

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 28: Minotaurus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022

Original text:

Sum mihi dissimilis vultu membrisque biformis:

Cornibus armatus, horrendum cetera fingunt

Membra virum; fama clarus per Gnossia rura

Spurius incerto Greta genitore creatus

Ex hominis pecudisque simul cognomine dicor.

Translation:

I am hybrid, different in my face and limbs: 

I am armed with horns, my other limbs form 

A horrible man; known by report through Knossian fields,

Born illegitimate with an unknown father in Crete, 

I am said in name to be of man and beast at the same time.

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Minotaur

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 29: Aqua

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022

Original text:

Quis non obstupeat nostri spectacula fati,

Dum virtute fero silvarum robora mille,

Ast acus exilis mox tanta gestamina rumpit?

Nam volucres caeli nantesque per aequora pisces

Olim sumpserunt ex me primordia vitae:

Tertia pars mundi mihi constat iure tenenda.

Translation:

Who would not be stupefied at the spectacle of my fate,

While with strength I bear a thousand oaks of the forests,

But a thin needle immediately ruptures such loads? 

For birds of the sky and fish swimming through the seas 

Once received from me the beginnings of life:

A third part of the world belongs to me according to law.

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Water

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 30: Elementum

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022

Original text:

Nos decem et septem genitae sine voce sorores

Sex alias nothas non dicimus annumerandas.

Nascimur ex ferro rursus ferro moribundae

Necnon et volucris penna volitantis ad aethram;

Terni nos fratres incerta matre crearunt.

Qui cupit instanter sitiens audire docentes,

Tum cito prompta damus rogitanti verba silenter.

Translation:

We, ten and seven sisters, born without a voice, 

Say that the six other illegitimates are not to be included. 

We are born of iron, will also die by iron, 

Or indeed by the feather of a bird flying through the sky.

Three brothers created us from an unknown mother.

Whoever in their thirst earnestly wishes to hear our teachings,

We quickly, silently give prepared words, then, to the one asking.

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Alphabet

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 31: Ciconia

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022

Original text:

Candida forma nitens necnon et furva nigrescens

Est mihi, dum varia componor imagine pennae;

Voce carens tremula nam faxo crepacula rostro.

Quamvis squamigeros discerpam dira colobros,

Non mea letiferis turgescunt membra venenis;

Sic teneres pullos prolemque nutrire suesco

Carne venenata tetroque cruore draconum.

Translation:

I have a shining white appearance and also one that

Dims to dark, since I am composed of the feather’s varied image;

I lack a quavering voice, for I will make rattles with my beak.

Although I, dreadful, will mangle scaly snakes,

My limbs will not swell with fatal venom;

Thus am I used to feeding young chickens and offspring

With the poisoned flesh and the foul blood of snakes.

Click to show riddle solution?

Stork

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 32: Pugillares

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022

Original text:

Melligeris apibus mea prima processit origo,

Sed pars exterior crescebat cetera silvis;

Calciamenta mihi tradebant tergora dura.

Nunc ferri stimulus faciem proscindit amoenam

Flexibus et sulcos obliquat adinstar aratri,

Sed semen segiti de caelo ducitur almum,

Quod largos generat millena fruge maniplos.

Heu! tam sancta seges diris extinguitur armis.

Translation:

My first origin came from honeybees, 

But my other, outer part grew in the forest;

Stiff skins gave me shoes.

Now the iron stylus cuts through my lovely face,

With its turnings and twists cuts grooves like a plough,

But the crop’s holy seed is brought from heaven, 

And it propagates bountiful bundles with its thousand-strong fruit.

Alas! Such a holy harvest is killed by fearful arms.

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Writing Tablets

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 33: Lorica

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022

Original text:

Roscida me genuit gelido de viscere tellus;

Non sum setigero lanarum vellere facta,

Licia nulla trahunt nec garrula fila resultant

Nec crocea Seres texunt lanugine vermes

Nec radiis carpor duro nec pectine pulsor;

Et tamen en vestis vulgi sermone vocabor.

Spicula non vereor longis exempta faretris.

Translation:

The dewy earth birthed me from frozen innards;

I am not made from the bristly sheep’s wool,

No threads are drawn nor do noisy strings thrum, 

Nor do Chinese silk-worms weave me from golden plant-down, 

I am not plucked from the spinning wheel nor struck by the hard carding comb;

And yet, behold, I am called “clothing” in the vulgar tongue.

I do not fear sharp weapons taken out of long quivers.

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Mail-coat (armour)

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 34: Locusta

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022

Original text:

Quamvis agricolis non sim laudabilis hospes,

Fructus agrorum viridi de cespite ruris

Carpo catervatim rodens de stipite libros,

lamdudum celebris spolians Nilotica regna,

Quando decem plagas spurca cum gente luebant.

Cor mihi sub genibus: nam constat carcere saeptum;

Pectora poplitibus subduntur more rubetae.

Translation:

Although to farmers I may not be a laudable guest, 

I pick the fruit of fields from green country’s turf, 

Gnawing in groups the bark from tree trunks.

I was celebrated long ago for despoiling kingdoms along the Nile

When they and their foul people suffered the ten plagues.

My heart is under my knees: for it stands enclosed in a prison;

Like a poisonous toad, my chest is set under my knees.

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Locust

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 35: Nycticorax

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022

Original text:

Duplicat ars geminis mihi nomen rite figuris;

Nam partem tenebrae retinent partemque volucres.

Elaro me quisquam cernet sub luce serena,

Quin magis astriferas ego nocte fovebo latebras.

Raucisono medium crepitare per aethera suescens

Romuleis scribor biblis, sed voce Pelasga,

Nomine nocturnas dum semper servo tenebras.

Translation:

My power fittingly reproduces my name in two ways;

For the shadows hold part and the birds part. 

Rarely does someone see me in bright light, 

All the more so because at night I keep to starlit lairs. 

I am used to twittering in mid-air in a harsh-sounding way.

I am written in Latin books, though in the Greek language, 

While I always guard nocturnal shadows with my name.

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Night-raven

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 36: Scnifes

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022

Original text:

Corpore sum gracilis, stimulis armatus acerbis;

Scando catervatim volitans super ardua pennis

Sanguineas sumens praedas mucrone cruento

Quadrupedi parcens nulli; sed spicula trudo

Setigeras pecudum stimulans per vulnera pulpas,

Olim famosus vexans Memphitica rura;

Namque toros terebrans taurorum sanguine vescor.

Translation:

I am small in body, armed with sharp stings;

I ascend in a crowd, flying high on wings,

Claiming bloody prey with a gory sword, 

Sparing no quadruped; rather, I thrust my stings,

Pricking the bristly flesh of beasts with wounds,

Once famous for vexing the Egyptian countryside;

And now, drilling through into muscle, I am nourished on the blood of bulls.

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Stinging Insect

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 37: Cancer

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022

Original text:

Nepa mihi nomen veteres dixere Latini:

Humida spumiferi spatior per litora ponti;

Passibus oceanum retrograda transeo versis:

Et tamen aethereus per me decoratur Olimpus,

Dum ruber in caelo bisseno sidere scando;

Ostrea quem metuit duris perterrita saxis.

Translation:

The ancient Latins used to call me “nepa”:

I move along the damp shores of the foamy sea;

I cross the ocean backwards, with turned steps; 

And yet ethereal heaven is decorated with me

When I, red, climb into the sky with twice-six stars;

The oyster, frightened by hard stones, fears me.

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Crab

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 38: Tippula

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022

Original text:

Pergo super latices plantis suffulta quaternis

Nec tamen in limphas vereor quod mergar aquosas,

Sed pariter terras et flumina calco pedestris;

Nec natura sinit celerem natare per amnem,

Pontibus aut ratibus fluvios transire feroces;

Quin potius pedibus gradior super aequora siccis.

Translation:

I proceed on waters propped up on my four feet,

And yet I do not fear being drowned in the watery lakes,

But I go on foot equally on land and stream.

Nature does not permit me to swim through the fast flow

Nor to cross fierce rivers on bridges or boats;

Rather, I step with dry feet over the water.

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Water-insect

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 39: Leo

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022

Original text:

Setiger in silvis armatos dentibus apros

Cornigerosque simul cervos licet ore rudentes

Contero nec parcens ursorum quasso lacertos;

Ora cruenta ferens morsus rictusque luporum

Horridus haud vereor regali culmine fretus;

Dormio nam patulis, non claudens lumina, gemmis.

Translation:

Shaggy, I crush boars armed with teeth in the woods

And at the same time antlered stags, although they roar with their mouth,

And sparing nothing, I quash bears’ arms;

Bearing my bloody mouth, wolves’ bite and maw, 

I, frightening and supported by royal eminence, do not fear at all;

For I sleep with my eyes wide open, not closing them.

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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 40: Piper

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022

Original text:

Sum niger exterius rugoso cortice tectus,

Sed tamen interius candentem gesto medullam.

Dilicias, epulas regum luxusque ciborum,

Ius simul et pulpas battutas condo culinae;

Sed me subnixum nulla virtute videbis,

Viscera ni fuerint nitidis quassata medullis.

Translation:

I am black on the outside, covered with a wrinkled shell,

Yet inside I bear a shining core.

Kitchen’s delights, kings’ dishes, and culinary luxuries,

Sauce and also stewed meats I flavour;

But you will see me to be based on no strength 

If my innards are not crushed for their gleaming core.

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Pepper

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 41: Puluillus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022

Original text:

Nolo fidem frangas, licet irrita dicta putentur,

Credula sed nostris pande praecordia verbis!

Celsior ad superas possum turgescere nubes,

Si caput aufertur mihi toto corpore dempto;

At vero capitis si pressus mole gravabor,

Ima petens iugiter minorari parte videbor.

Translation:

I do not want you to lose faith, although what I say may be deemed useless,

But open your trusting heart to my words!

I am able to swell up higher to the upper clouds,

If a head is taken from me with my whole body removed;

But if I am to be weighed down, compressed by the weight of a head,

I will always seem to be reaching toward the bottom, diminished in size.

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Pillow

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 42: Strutio

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022

Original text:

Grandia 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.

Translation:

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.

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Ostrich

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 43: Sanguisuga

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022

Original text:

Lurida per latices cenosas lustro paludes;

Nam mihi composuit nomen fortuna cruentum,

Rubro dum bibulis vescor de sanguine buccis.

Ossibus et pedibus geminisque carebo lacertis,

Corpora vulneribus sed mordeo dira trisulcis

Atque salutiferis sic curam praesto labellis.

Translation:

Sallow, I lurk in muddy swamp waters;

For fortune made for me a bloody name,

Because I am nourished by wet mouthfuls of red blood.

I lack bones, two feet, and arms, 

But I bite fearful bodies with three-pronged wounds

And thus will I bestow treatment from my health-bringing lips.

Click to show riddle solution?

Leech

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 44: Ignis

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022

Original text:

Me pater et mater gelido genuere rigore,

Fomitibus siccis dum mox rudimenta vigebant;

Quorum vi propria fortunam vincere possum,

Cum nil ni latiees mea possint vincere fata.

Sed saltus, scopulos, stagni ferrique metalla

Comminuens penitus naturae iura resolvam.

Cum me vita fovet, sum clari sideris instar;

Postmodum et fato victus pice nigrior exsto.

Translation:

Father and mother bore me from frozen hardness,

While my early stages were quickly thriving in dry kindling. 

Through my own strength I am able to prevail over their fate, 

Because nothing except water is able to prevail over my fate. 

Completely crushing forests, cliffs, the metals tin and iron,   

I will unbind the laws of nature.

When life embraces me, I am like a bright star; 

And afterwards, conquered by fate, I am blacker than tar.

Click to show riddle solution?

Fire

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 45: Fusum

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022

Original text:

In saltu nascor ramosa fronde virescens,

Sed fortuna meum mutaverat ordine fatum,

Dum veho per collum teretem vertigine molam:

Tam longa nullus zona praecingitur heros.

Per me fata virum dicunt decernere Parcas;

Ex quo conficitur regalis stragula pepli.

Frigora dura viros sternant, ni forte resistam.

Translation:

In a forest was I born, verdant on a branching bough, 

But fortune changed my fate as is the way,

Because I transport thread, spinning with my rounded neck:

For no hero is girded with as long a belt.

Through me, they say, the Parcae determine the fates of men;

From this is prepared the royal covering of a cloak.

Harsh cold would cast men down if I did not remain strong.

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Spindle

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 46: Urtica

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022

Original text:

Torqueo torquentes, sed nullum torqueo sponte

Laedere nec quemquam volo, ni prius ipse reatum

Contrahat et viridem studeat decerpere caulem.

Fervida mox hominis turgescunt membra nocentis:

Vindico sic noxam stimulisque ulciscor acutis.

Translation:

I torture my torturers, but I torture no one happily,

Nor do I wish to hurt anyone, unless he commit offence

First and desire to pluck my green stem. 

The limbs of the harm-doing man immediately grow hot and swollen:

Thus I avenge my injury and take revenge with my sharp stings.

Click to show riddle solution?

Nettle

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 47: Hirundo

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022

Original text:

Absque cibo plures degebam marcida menses,

Sed sopor et somnus ieiunia longa tulerunt;

Pallida purpureo dum glescunt gramine rura,

Garrula mox crepitat rubicundum carmina guttur.

Post teneros fetus et prolem gentis adultam

Sponte mea fugiens umbrosas quaero latebras;

Si vero quisquam pullorum lumina laedat,

Affero compertum medicans cataplasma salutis

Quaerens campestrem proprio de nomine florem.

Translation:

I was living without food for several months, wasting away, 

But slumber and sleep supported the long fasts;

When the pale countryside blazes with radiant plants,

My ruddy throat immediately twitters away in chattering songs.

After my young offspring and my kind’s offspring are grown,

I flee of my own will and seek shady refuges;

But if indeed someone should injure my chicks’ eyes,

I, as the doctor, provide a proven poultice for health,

Seeking a flower of the field of my own name.

Click to show riddle solution?

Swallow

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 48: Vertico poli

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022

Original text:

Sic me formavit naturae conditor almus:

Lustro teres tota spatiosis saecula ciclis;

Latas in gremio portans cum pondere terras

Sic maris undantes cumulos et caerula cludo.

Nam nihil in rerum natura tam celer esset,

Quod pedibus pergat, quod pennis aethera tranet,

Accola neu ponti volitans per caerula squamis

Nec rota, per girum quam trudit machina limphae,

Currere sic posset, ni septem sidera tricent.

Translation:

Thus did the holy creator of nature form me: 

Round, I roam all of space in long cycles;

Carrying the wide world with its weight on my lap,

Thus do I enclose the swelling masses and waves of the sea.

For there is nothing in the nature of things that would be as quick—

Nothing which goes on foot, which goes through the airs on wing, 

Or which, scaly resident of the sea, flies through the ocean blue,

Nor the wheel which a water-mill pushes in its turning—

Nothing could run thus if the seven planets did not slow me.

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Revolution of the Heavens

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 49: Lebes

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022

Original text:

Horrida, curva, capax, patulis fabricata metallis

Pendeo nec caelum tangens terramve profundam,

Ignibus ardescens necnon et gurgite fervens;

Sic geminas vario patior discrimine pugnas,

Dum latices limphae tolero flammasque feroces.

Translation:

Horrid, curved, capacious, made from beaten metals

I hang, touching neither the sky nor the vast earth,

Heated by fire and also boiling with swirling water;

Thus I endure twin battles with their various risks,

For as long as I tolerate the water’s liquid and the fierce flames.

Click to show riddle solution?

Cauldron

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