Solutions of the Exeter Book Riddles

Author(s): Frederick Tupper, Jr.

Source: Modern Language Notes, Vol. 21, No. 4 (Apr., 1906), pp. 97-105
Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2917240
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 VOL. XXI. BALTIMORE, APRIL, 1906. No. 4.

ously of twofold advantage to the student. First,

SOLUTIONS OF THE ExERmR BooK it enables him to discover scores of illuminating

RIDDLES. parallels to the motives before him in the riddles

of all countries and centuries, and often to chase
Among those who have sought to undo the gates his panting problem through time and space from
of the treasure-houses of the Exeter Book Riddles the remotest period until the present. Secondly,-
(E. B. R.)-to use a figure drawn from one of and this is equally helpful--the careful examina-
those delightful but baffling poems-no one has tion of many thousand riddles of different eras
more frequently attacked the locks than Professor gives the investigator what I may term a riddle-
Moritz Trautmann. Yet the results of his en- sense, which compels him to weigh each particular
deavors have seemed often more problematical problem, not as a scholar in his study, but as a
than the problems themselves. As he has pub- man among men of naive minds. The over-
lished the greater number of his solutions with no sophistication of the exclusively modern point of
further support than an ipse dixit (Anglia, Bei-vieNv is more than dangerously anachronistic; it is,
blactt, v, 46 f.), these answers, by reason of their as in the case before us, absolutely fatal to the
seeming remoteness from any obvious interpre- proper conception of problems. He who brings
tation of the text, have sometimes been regarded, to the solving of riddles only a knowledge of the
perhaps unfairly, as random guesses. Now, how- text in hand and of Simrock's Baiitselbuch is as
ever, in an interesting article in Bonner Beitraige, competent to sit in judgmenit upon their meaning
XIX, 1905, 167-215, Professor Trautmann dis- as a student of ballads whose range is confined to
cusses at length fourteen of the Anglo-Saxon rid- the Percy Reliques is to pose as an authority.
dles (E. B. R., 11, 12, 14, 18, 26, 30, 31, 45, The command of material and the riddle-sense are
52, 53, 58, 74, 80, 95), and seeks, by ingenious the two things needful. Had Professor Traut-
arguments, to establish his solutions. That, in at mann possessed the one, he would not have insisted
least two-thirds of his interpretations, he has failed upon his erroneous analysis and " Rosenbutz " so-
of his purpose, I shall attempt to show by destruc- lution of E. B. R., 26, which has its close verbal
tive criticism and by championship of other an- counterpart in the modern Eng,lish riddle of Onion
swers. At the very outset, I must indicate certain (infra), and upon the association with "Ten Young
faults of method, which seem to me largely respon- Chickens " of one of the most widely spread prob-
sible for his lack of success. lems of its day (E. B. R., 14); nor would he have
First of all, I must insist upon the importance failed to produce cogent historical support for his
of the historical method of riddle-study. In a admirable solution of E. B. R., 52, "Pen and
former number of 3Aodern Language Notes, (xviai, Fingers." Had he possessed the other, he could
1903, 1-8), I have discussed at length the prin- never have connected E. B. R., I with "An-
ciples that should govern such research, and havechor," 74 with " Water," and 95 with " Riddle."
sought to apply these in subsequent articles Riddles have their vested right in a little corner of
(Notes, xviii, 97-106 ; Modern Philology, ii, Comparative Philology.
561-572) and in my edition of the Holme Riddles In the next place, the solution of riddles is too
(Publications of Modern Language Association, xi, uncertain a matter to permit their solver "to come
211 f. ). Now, Professor Trautmann speaks slight- to battle like a dictator from the plough." To the
ingly of my analogues to our problems as " dinge, same motives are often accorded, by the folk itself,
die in mehr oder weniger entlegnen schriften different solutions, as I have shown at length
stehn " (p. 202). Yet, despite his dissent, the con- (Notes, xviii, 5-6). It was, of course, the pur-
pose of the riddler to lead his hearers into many
ning of queries in the light of their histoly is obvi-

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 98 MODERN LANGUAGE NVOTES. [ Vol. xxi, No. 4.

devious paths, each of which seemed for the moment also think it exceedingly unlikely that in E. B. R.
the only way of escape from the maze; and his 149a, haswe blede means " ein mehre wochen lang
cunning has been richly rewarded by the fate of bebriitetes ei" (p. 180); that in 1889, brfinqum
modern solvers. Not only do they differ with one beadowipnum, bit rum ordum,/eglum attoreperum
another, but they differ quite as widely with their refers to ' the logs and coals thrown into an oven'
former selves. Dietrich's second article is often (p. 182); and that 583b, sanges rofe relates to ' the
a palinode of his first (Haupts Zeitschrift, xi, 448- voice of thunder' (p. 200). It passes belief that
490; xii, 232-252) ; and Professor Trautmann in 119-10, mee lifgende lyft upp dh6jf/wind of wage
frankly and freely changes ground in many prob- could refer to 'the weighing of an anchor' (p.
lems. E. B. R., 11, once solved by him, "Bub- 171). It is sheer assault and battery upon words
ble " is now "Anchor "; 30, formerly "Swallow to render (p. 207) 953a, gefrige as "ein gegen-
and Sparrow," is now "Bird and Wind"; 31, stand des fragens," and to regard 4b, friondurm as
"Corn-field in ear" now becomes Beamt. In dative singular of the present participle, freonde
52, "Horse and Wagon" is rightly replaced (frKogende). And it is entirely beyond reason to
by " Pen"; in 53, "Broom" by "Threshing ask u8 (p. 201) to find an allusion to the various
Flail"; and in 80, "Spear" by "Horn." In forms of water and their grammatical genders in
58 he recants his recantation, passing in successive E. B. R., 741-2 :
articles from "Hailstones" to "Raindrops" to "Ic wes f&mme geong, feax-hir cwene
"Storm-clouds." If, in one-half of the riddles
ond senlic rinc on ane tid."
here considered by him, he has altered utterly his
Fourthly, --and this is a crowning weakness of
interpretations, Professor Trautmann will, I think,
Professor Trautmann's paper-perversion of mean-
be the first to admit the unwisdom of lengthy and
ing is supplemented by distortion of the text of the
strenuous dogmatizing over opinions which may.
riddles. We may all differ, it seems that we must
to-morrow be abandoned by their champion.
all differ, with regard to the meaning of these
Thirdly, I take issue with Professor Trautmann
enigmas, but we must all agree in respecting the
in his perversion of the meaning of many prob-
integrity of the text. If our particular solution
lems. Despite his regrettable use of the argwnen-
does not harmonize with the manuscript, it is
turm ad homninem, he is unquestionably right in
clear that the solution needs emending, not the
insisting upon a close study of the Anglo-Saxon
reading. Unfortunately, Professor Trautmann
text; but, when this study leads him to wrest words
does not hold this view. The text may be with-
from their true calling, and to leap beyond all
out flaw, it may indeed contain a reading con-
bounds of metaphor, it is time to protest with all
firmed by many parallel passages in the Riddle8
deference. I present a few of his many misinter-
themselves; but, if it does not accord with his
pretations of the original. E. B. R., 301 reads
answer of the moment, he alters in Procrustean
"Ic wiht geseah wundorlice fashion. This blameworthy practice is seen at its
hornum bitweonum hfije 1&dan
worst in his treatment of E. B. R., 118b, on 8unde
lyftfiat 1ohtlic listum gegierwed."
awox. No valid objections can be alleged against
Professor Trautmann renders (p. 191):-" Dieses this reading; it is in perfect harmony with the
wesen (ein vogel) fiihrt zwischen seinen h6rnern context, and is moreover supported by 1010a,
(dem ober- und unterkiefer seines schnabels) ok Acet ic aweox and 731a, ic on wonge aweiox; but
beute. Die beute ist ein leichtes und kunstvoll it does not fit his freshest solution, " Anchor, " so,
bereitetes luftgefiiss (ein gras- oder strohhalm instead of throwing this overboard, he emends the
oder eine feder)." I register twofold objection: line to read, on sande gr5f (p. 171). Not content
first, that, in spite of the well-known word, with this violent change, he alters, for the same
hyrnednebba, the upper and lower parts of the beak reason, 117', beames to bearme, an enigmatic
would not, in any flight of fancy, be called " the word in this context. Now, frankly, what value
bird's horns "; and, secondly, that neither a can be attached to a solution so abnormally engen-
blade of grass nor a feather would be termed " an dered? Likewise in E. B. R., 58"', the ms. read-
air-vessel," 'on account of its hollowness.' I ing, ltle wihte, is the very antipode of his forced

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 April, 1906.] MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES. 99

solution, " Stormclouds, " so

cohaerente he begs
conchylibus the questio
testis ad liberiorem forma-
tionem inclusae,
by arbitrarily substituting theper rostra dependent." Or per-
objectionable lih
(p. 199), thus marrilngmitutterly
me to give Max Muller's
thistranslation
charming of the lit
swallow-flight of song.LatinIn
(Science of Language,men
1811", Second Series, 1865,
genmunan
the verb is not to Professor's
p. 564) :"BernacaeTrautmann's
are like marsh-geese, but liking
as this could hardly be said of " Bread; " so he somewhat smaller. They are produced from fir
changes the word to the unlikely gewilniat (p. timber tossed along the sea, and are at first like
183); but here he can plead a defective line. gum. Afterwards they hang down by their beaks
His changes of E. B. R., 129a, heah to hearm (p. as if from a seaweed attached to the timber, sur-
176) and of 524 to read, fugla fultum fl&ag geond rounded by shells in order to grow more freely.
lyfte (p. 195), and his alterations of the text of Having thus, in process of time, been clothed with
95438 (pp. 206-207) have this much in their a strong coat of feathers, they either fall into the
favor, that the passages emended are certainly water or fly freely away into the air." Does this
corrupt. not read like a close paraphrase of our Anglo-
To summarize, lack of historical method, incon- Saxon text? Professor Trautmann's second objec-
stancy of solutions, perversion of the meaning of tion is even more easily disposed of :- I I Der dich-
the text, and arbitrary assaults upon its integrity, ter kann ferner nicht wol sagen dass die gans vom
go far to discredit many of the answers in the articlewinde aufgehoben und fortgetragen werde; das
before us. And yet, in his analysis of one or two triife zu auf ein blatt, eine feder, einen grashalm,
problems, Professor Trautmann has achieved valu- aber von einem vogel sagt man, ' er schwingt sich
in die luft und fliegt davon.' " There is a vast
able results. I shall now devote attention to each
of the queries discussed in the Beitrage essay. difference between Modern German prose and Old
There is little need to refuite Professor Traut- English poetry. He seems to have forgotten
mann's " Anchor " solution of E. B. R., 11, built completely that we are told of the Swan in
as it has been shown to be, upon unwarranted E. B. R., 83-6a
changes in text and upon perverted meanings.' "Hwilum mec ihebbat ofer hawleka byht
But I must consider his three objections to the hyrste mine ond kgos hea lyft,
answer, " Barnacle Goose," which superstition I ond mec tonne wide wolena strengu
ofer folc byreS."
have already discussed at length (Notes, xviii,
100-101). He asks (p. 170) :-"LVeb miisste So of the Swallows (E. B. R., 58'), Dios lyft byre76
doch bei Brooke's annahme den schnabel der gans lytle wihte. Professor Trautmann can hardly lay
bedeuten: wiare es nun aber nicht h6chst seltsam, much stress on his third objection that our riddle
wenn der dichter die gans, die doch nach jener is four centuries earlier than Giraldus' account of
vorstellung mit ihrem ganzen leibe in der enge, the superstition. This is just the sort of popular
der muschel, war, sagen liesse, 'mein schnabel myth that might exist for hundreds of years among
war in der enge ? ' " Giraldus Cambrensis, To- simple men before finding a scholar to record it;
pograpphia Hiberniae, i, xv, (Rolls Series, 1867,and, again, many accounts of the marvel may
v, 47) answvers this, when he tells us of the Bar-have perished. In the case of a bit of folk-lore,
nacle Goose :- " Dehinc tamquam ab alga ligno a negative argument drawn from the absence of
extant testimony is always weak. If I have
established this solution-and I think that I have
1 E. B. R., 116; haefdefeorh owico, " I had a living soul,"
could surely not be said of a lifeless thing like an anchor.-here at last is an early and exact record of the
Elsewhere in E. B. B. the phrase is, of course, used only
Barnacle Goose.
of creatures with life like the " Fingers" (143a) and the
"Siren" (745b). Yet Professor Trautmann would render For his answer, "Wine," to E. B. B., 12,
(p. 171), "Ich bewegte mich lebhaft." So to him hwite Professor Trautmann has made out a seemingly
hyr-ste (118) means " the anchor rope." An Anglo-Saxon good case (pp. 173-176); but Dietrich's solution,
riddler, who juggled thus with the meaning of words, " Night " fits better the various conditions of the
would have broken all rules of the game, and would have
query. That this problem is clearly a companion-
tempted his hearers to add a tragic passage to the Fates of
Men. piece to E. B. B., 28, " Mead" is, at first siglht,

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 100 MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES. [Vol , No. 4.

an argument for the " Wine" interpretation; pergebat plana campe8tria (St. Gall Ms. 196),
but the meaning, "night debauch," is quite as and 9a, haswe blade, refer clearly to the leaves of
well suited to the vinous lines that suggest the the manuscript on which the hands are browsing
later riddle. The opening passage (121-2) far (Notes, xVII, 101). Professor 'Trautmann's so-
better describes a starry night than a golden lution, " Ten Chickens " is ingeniously defended
beaker.' Night, by reason of its evil ways, may by him (178-180); but his arguments seem to
well be praised by drunken revellers (3bb-8a; com- me unconvincing. To claim that the "skin
pare the next riddle, 13', dot drunomennen deor- which hangs on the wall" (3a-4) is not the
cun nihtum) and rogues (Aldhelm, xii, "Nox," glove of folk-riddles of all times (Notes, 1. c.) but
line 9, "iDiri latrones me semper amare sole- ' the film that clings to the inner surface of the
bant "); and yet it protects others from the egg-shell after the hatching,' is to reason far too
paths of folly by leading them to rest or sleep quaintly and totally without the warrant of Euse-
(5a, nyttre fore implies "course of conduct"). bius, No. 38, who says nothing of " wall; " and
I agree with Dietrich that 129b, horda deorat, to interpret haswmf blade as ' eggs in an advanced
refers to the Sun, and that the line describes the state of incubation ' is surely a curious conceit.
coming of the day; and accept, in this corrupt Then, too, his treatment of the numbers, " six "
passage, (Cosjn's spirited reading, hIah AringeS and "ten " (1-2), seems arbitrary. In my
(Paul und Braune, Beitriage, 23, 128) instead of opinion, he has failed throughout to prove his
Professor Trautmann's hearm bringe6, which case in the light of either logic or tradition.
seems to me tame and prosaic. His explanation In B. B. R., 18, I must refuse to be led by
of the closing lines of the poem is as unfortunate Professor Trautmann from the camp to the kitchen.
as his interpretation of the opening passage. It This riddle is certainly a companion-piece to E.
is hard to believe that horda deorast refers to the B. R., 24, " Bow, " and forms with it one of the
communiion-wine (why should that bring harm?); many pairs in our collection. Both objects swal-
and that nyttrefire (125a) is intended also to sug-low and spit out terror and poison; from the belly
gest the Eucharist. These are my reasons for of each fly deadly darts; each is the servant of a
preferring the answer, " Night. " master. Indeed, a half-line of one poem (186)
When Professor Trautmann wrote his article appears practically unchanged in the other (249l2b).
last October, he had not yet read my contribution Is it not reasonable then to seek a companion
to Modern Phlilology of April, 1905 (ii, 561 f.), weapon to the " Bow ? " I find this in Dietrich's
on " Riddles of the Bede Tradition"; else I can- first solution, Ballista, which as I have already
not believe that he would have held out against shown (Notes, xviiI, 104) is, elsewhere in riddle
the many analogues there cited to prove that the poetry, associated with Arous. This answer caps
"Fingers" motive, E. B. R., 14, is one of the our query at every point. Above E. B. R., 18,
most popular of the riddle themes of its day.
141a, turf tredan, which is paralleled by the Latin
8 Isidor tells us of the Ballista in his Origines, xVIII, x :
"Torquetur enim verbere nervorum et magna vi jacit aut
2 Few will agree, I think, that Professor Trautmann, in aut saxa." Frrom the many Roman references in
hastas
his note on Iasu (pp. 216-218), has successfully com- Marquardt und Mommsens Handbuch der RBmischen Alter-
batted the hitherto received meanings of the word. He thiimer, 1884, v, 522-524, and from many medieval exam-
seeks to prove that it can mean only " glinzend," and ples in Du Cange's Glossarium, s. v., one gathers that not
that, therefore, &aof6,g (121a) is inapplicable to "Night." only darts and rocks but beams and bolts of every sort were
Even if we grant that this is the exclusive meaning, we cast from the huge engine. So our riddler's chief motives,
must not forget that " Night's mantle " in poetry may be the varied contents of the creature's belly (E. B. B.,
"gleaming," as well as "azure" or "sable." But we (182b-3, 7-10) and the casting forth thence of " spear-terror"
cannot grant this. Hasu seems to have the connotation of (4a, 6) are here well sustained. Illustrations and descrip-
glaucua to which indeed it corresponds, E. B. B., 4161b. tions of the Ballista in Baumeister, Denkmdler, 8. v., Yule's
The Latin word is a synonym of caerul?b (Harpers Latin Marco Polo, ii, 122, and in Marquardt support the mention
Dictionary, s. v. glaucuz) and, as Dietrich has noted, in E. B. B., 18, of the subject's "mouth" and "belly";
caerula is the very adjective used by Aldhelm to describe and the cords with which it was wound ("Ballista funi-
Nox in his riddle upon that subject (xIi, 6). bus nervinis tenditur " ) may perhaps be "the enclosing

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 April, 1906.] MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES. 101

in the Ms. are two runes, B with the L above it. hurt no oine except a murderer," seemed unsuited
If B refers to Ballista, may not L represent its to " Onion," so I accepted the " IHemp " solution
Anglo-Saxon equivalent, li/ire (Sprachschats, T, of Bouterwek, supported by Scaliger's riddle of
183) ? Let us now glance at Professor Traut- Carrnnabi (Reusner, i, 190), in which the subject
mann's solution, "Baking Oven." His long is the servant of justice, is deprived of its head,
analysis of this problem (pp. 180-184) leads him (incapitata) and is then tortured. But, as the
into fourfold error. He ignores entirely the re- "Hemp " answer hardly fits the last line of our
lation of the riddle to its mate, E. B. R., 24, since riddle, and as the historical evidence is over-
this association in war cries out against his answer. whelmingly on the side of " Onion," I now accept
According to his wont, he changes the text (lb, that solution. I now believe that bonan is used
lla) to fit his meaning. He hunts words and in the general sense of " destroyer " (E. B. B.,
phrases beyond all the bounds of riddle fantasy. 66, "Onion," bited mec on baer Rie, briceb sine
4a, Vperebrigan is -wrenched into meaning wsan);
'the and that 262b-3 is but an adaptation of the
flames of the oven'; and 8-9a, " the brown motive in the Symphosius "Onion" riddle, No.
war-weapona, bitter points, dire poison-spears" 44, " Mordeo mordentes; ultro non mordeo quem-
are strangely enough regarded as the fuel. This quam. " This is followed in E. B. R., 665-6, admit-
is surely not the naivete of the riddler. And, ted by all to be " Onion," which has also in com-
finally, he seeks to sustain his solution by point- mon with our problem the motives of "loss of
ing to certain likenesses to E. B. R., 50, " dem head" (268, 662b, Sb) and " confinement in a nar-
zweifellosen backofen-riitsel." Such a solution row place" (2698, 66aa)-strong evidence for a
of E. B. R., 50 is certainly suggestive and common solution. It is my opinion, that Professor
may be correct, but it remains to be estab- Trautmann's "Rosenbutz" (pp. 184-188) does
lished over against Dietrich's acceptable answer, not accord with the demands of the problem as
"Bookcase." Further fallacious reasoning is well as " Onion," that indeed it hardly meets any
employed by him, when, after changing E. B. R., of them. It is not, however, opinion but fact that,
18118 to resemble 507b, he argues for his solution in our query, we have traditional " Onion " mo-
from this made-to-order resemblance (p. 184). tives of riddle literature; that "Rosenbutz" is
"Not proven" must be the verdict against the not only never associated with these motives, but
"Baking Oven " thesis. that when its kinsman, " Hagebutte, " appears as
E. B. R., 26 contains the "Onion" motive a theme, it is in a " Cherry-Arbutus " group
common in popular riddles even to-day. Indeed, (Notes, xVIII, 6), which cannot be misconstrued
as I have already pointed out (Notes, xviii, 103), into any real relation to our problem. One is
the Onion stanza of Royal Riddle Book, Glasgow, therefore absolutely safe in rejecting the usurper,
1820, p. 11, which is too coarse to print, reads, "Rosenbutz. "
line for line, like a modern rendering of the Anglo- E. B. R., 30, perhaps the most imaginative of
Saxon in the description of its lofty stand, its treat-
all Anglo-Saxon poems of Nature is given by
ment at the hands of the goodwife and her water- Professor Trautmann (p. 191) in " the dull cata-
ing eyes.' One trait alone in our problem, 2b-3, logue of common things." The wonderful wight
Nengum see/bfe . . . nymbe bonan &ntunm, " I who bears booty, an air-vessel, between his horns
is, according to his curious interpretation, a bird
wires " of line 2a. Lines 3a, dryhtgestreona and 10,
carrying a feather in his beak. Then comes the
wombhord wlitig wloncum deore, seem to me to express
wind, snatches the feather out of his mouth and
admirably that joyous pride of the Anglo-Saxons in their
war-weapons, of which our riddles are so full; anid the drives the wretched creature home; it then blows
last line is of characteristic grimness, when applied to westward, because w is needed for the alliteration,
an engine of destruction. etc. Is it really necessary to consider fulther than
4In literature as in life the Onion causes eyes to water. I have already done anything so inherently im-
Shakespeare is full of examples :-A. W. v, 3, 321:
probable as this ? Walz's solution, "Cloud and
" Mine eyes smell onions; I shall weep anoni "; A. and
., I, 2, 176, " The tears live in an onion that should water Wind," (Hfarvard Studies, vi, 264) is far more
this sorrow "; ld., iv, 2, 35, etc. pleasing and suitable; but I do not believe that

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 102 MODERN LAYGUAGE NOTES. [Vol. xxi, No. 4.

this is as well adapted to the sense of the poem as one of men know afterward the journey of the
Dietrich's "Moon and Sun" (BHaupts Zeit8chrift, Moon (a riddle motive of the time, Notes, xviii,
XI, 468 f?). Let us see how the early myth- 104). I shall return to this myth in my discussion
maker weaves his story of elemental strife. The of the riddle's mate, E. B. R., 95 (infra).
primitive attitude to the two great lights of heaven There seems now little reason to doubt that
is seen in the deservedly famous Ossianic " Ad- Dietrich's first solution of E. B. R., 45, " Key,"'
dress to the Sun " (Clerk's Translation, 1870, i, which Professor Trautmann defends (pp. 192-
221): 195), is better than his second, "Sheath." To
"O Sun!
both answers I have presented many analogues
Thou comest forth strong in thy beauty.
(Notem, xviii, 103). Let me repeat what I have
The Moon, all pale, forsales the sky shown at length (Id. 6), that it is unwise to dog-
To hide herself in the western wave, matize over the answers to certain Anglo-Saxon
Thou in thy journey art alone,
riddles of this class. It is probable that the col-
The Moon is lost aloft in the heaven; lector himself knew and cared little about the
Thou alone dost triumph ever more original solutions, since any decorous reply would
In gladness of light, all thine own." adorn his unseemly tale.
If Professor Trautmann does not fear " the
Here. are the chief motives of our riddle: the con-
test between the bodies, the loss of the Moon's
Greeks bearing gifts," I am glad to offer many
analogues to confirm his apt solution of E. B. R.,
light and the triumph of the Sun, I give now a
52, "Pen and Fingers" (pp. 195-198), which
detailed interpretation of E. B. R., 30. The
well replaces Dietrich's inappropriate answer,
Moon is seen bearing between his horns as booty
" Dragon. " The relation of the " four wights "
a bright air-vessel, which is the light captured
(ib) is mentioned not only in Tatwine's enigma,
from the Sun in battle (4, hkiae . . . of Atm
No. 6, "De Penna," which he quotes (p. 197),
heresAbe). He would build himself a bower or
but in Aldhelm, iv, 1, line 4, and in the
tabernacle (buir = tabernaculum, Sprach8chatz, i,
"Pen" problem (xix) of Cambridge Ms. Gg.
150) in the burg and set it skilfully, if it so might
v, 35 (printed by me, Modern Philology, ii,
be (see Psalrns, xIX, 4, " In them hath he set a
571): "Tres gemini repunt stimulati marmore
tabernacle for the sun"). Then the wonderful
pellis." Upon this the glossator comments, " Tres
being, known to all nmen on earth, the Sun her-
digiti discurrunt in pagina stimulati, cum acuta
self, appeared in the heavens (7b, ofer wealle8
penna, vel graphio, vel planitie." The same mo-
hrof ), snatched his booty, the light from the Moon,
tive appears in two " Pen " riddles from the Ger-
and drove away the wretched wanderer (so in
man and Italian Tyrol, cited by Petsch (Palaestra,
Ossian, " The Moon, all pale, forsakes the sky " ).
iv, 1899, p. 135), " Drei fiihren und zwei schauen
Then hastening with vengeance on her journey,
zu " and " Due la guarda e cinque la mena," in
she fared towards the west ( Wonders of Creation,
both of which the eyes watch the work of the
68, " Sun, " geuited ,bonne mid k wuidre on west-
fingers. The " black tracks'" (2b-3a) are found
rodor). (At this coming of the Sun) dust rose to
not only in Eusebius, "De Penna" (No. 35),
heaven (probably raised by the cool wind that, in
wlhich our riddler did not know, but in Aldhelm's
early Germanic poetry, blowvs at the rush of day;
" Pen " query, v, 3, 1. 4, " vestigia caerula lin-
see Grimm's Teutonic Mythology, 745, 1518) dew
quo," and in the ninth century "Lorsch " riddle,
fell on the earth, night departed.5 Nor did any
No. ix (HaupMts Zeitschrift, xxii, 260), " tetra
53015a, ni/t fort gewat is rendered by both Grein and . . . linquit vestigia." The interrelation of these
Professor Trautmann, "night came on." There is not various " Pen " enigmas is discussed at length by
the least warrant for this rendering. Whenfort geuwat Ebert (Id., xxiii, 200). The "black tracks"
appears elsewhere in like context, it means in each case,
appear as " black seed in a white field" in the
"departed" or "began to depart": Luke ix, 12, qewat
se dog forS ("dies coeperat declinare"), Genesis, 2447,
riddles given by Petsch (1. c.) and by Wossidlo
(Mecklenburgische Volks8iberlieferungen, 1897, No.
fort5 gewat efenwdima. Compare with our passage Phkcnix,
98-99, on dcegred, and seo deorce nih/t won gewite'. 70, Notes). The other motives in E. B. BR., 52,

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 April, 1906.] MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES. 103

are well explained by Professor Trautmann in the itself, quite sufficient to invalidate the fallacious
light of the "Pen" passage in E. B. R., 277-11, claims of Professor Trautmann's " Stormclouds,"
" Book." a sadly forced answer (p. 200). Stopford Brooke's
I yield to Professor Trautmann's superior knowl- preference for the solution, "Martin" (Early
edge of the " Threshing Flail " (E. B. R., 53), English Literature, 148, Note) supports my in-
in the use of which his whole article proves him terpretation.
an adept. There he was certainly right, and I, E. B. R., 74 is a "monster riddle," and the
wrong. I believe now that his answer (pp. 198- strange creature must satisfy many conditions. If
199) fully meets the demands of the problem, and I read the simple text aright, the thing must be at
that Dietlich's " Two Buckets," like many other once a woman, both old and young, and a hand-
answers to Anglo-Saxon riddles, must be consigned some man. It must fly with the birds and swim
to the Limbo of Vanities. I am also in thorough in the flood. It must dive into the water, dead
accord with the new solution of E. B. R., 80, with the fishes, and yet, when it steps on the land,
"Horn," which fits the riddle far better than it must have a living soul. Professor Trautmann
Dietrich's "Hawk" or Walz's "Sword" (lIar- defends his solution, "Water" (p. 202), and
vard Studies, vi, 267). The illuminating inter- labors over its various forms: a spring (" young
pretation of every enigmatic phrase in the poem woman " ), a cake of ice ( " a hoary-haired wo-
(pp. 203-206) leaves nothing for me to add. man " ), and snow ( " a handsome man " ). These
Blackburn's solution of E. B. R., 30, Beam, startling identifications he champions by reference
which Professor Trautmann champions (pp. 211- to grammatical gender. Mythology thus becomes
215), I regard with greater favor than formerly, the creature of declensions. The snow or man
but am not yet convinced of its aptness. This I flies in the air, the ice or beldam swims and then
shall discuss at a later time. sinks into the water, the spling or maiden runs
Professor Trautmann' s only objection to Diet- upon the earth. This is all too finely spun.
rich's first answer to E. B. R., 58, " Swallows," Moreover has "Water" "a living soul?" I
is ' that 5a, tredat bearonce88a., could not be said still think the answer futile. I have already
of them' (Anglia, xvii, 398). Why not? offered the solution, "Siren," and have souglht to
Indeed, that is exactly what Aldhelm (vi, 1, 1. 6) j ustify this by analogues (N rote8, XVIII, 101).
makes his Hirundo say: " umbrosas quaero late- This answer easily meets every demand of the
bras. " It needs no Audubon to tell us that " the text. The Siren is both aged and young, cen-
swallow is found in remote and secluded woods and turies old and yet with the face of a girl. It is
swamps as well as about the habitations of men." 6 not only a woman but sometimes a man.7 In the
We know, moreover, that Swallows are dark- Latin riddles of Reusner (I, 177; ii, 77) the
coated (2b-3a), purple, steel-blue, brownish- Siren is not only "femina" but 'avis,' "pis-
black, that they fare in flocks (4a), and that cis" and "scopulus." In Greek and Etruscan
their " pipe and trill and cheep and twitter " (as and Roman art, the Sirens were represented as
Tennyson describes their note in " The Plincess " ) bird-women ; but, as Harrison and Baumeister
is among the best-known of bird-songs (3b, 4b). point out, at an early period of the Middle Ages
As I have shown (supra), in my discussion of the ( " vom 7 Jahrhundert ab " ) the Teutonic con-
"IBarnacle Goose," Deos lyft byret (la) is used
in E. B. B. of the flight of birds (84-6a, 119). 7To establish the two sexes of our creature, I have
already pointed (Notes, 1. c.) to the male "Siren" of
Above all, Swallows are lWtle wilhte (ib). The
Orendel, 94. Philippe of Thaun tells us of the "Siren "
unwarranted change of this to lihte wihte is, in
in his Bestiare, 1. 683, " il cante en tempeste I; and in
two of Philippe's sources (Mann, Angltia, ix, 396) we
6 An early but accurate observer, Alexander Neckliam, have " figuram hominis," and in a third, " figuram
feminis."
De Naturis Rerum, c. Lii (Rolls Series, 1863, p. 103) says
of Swallows:-" Quaedam enim domos inhabitantes in eis 8 Schrader, Die Sirernen, Berlin, 1868, pp. 70-112; Har-
nidificant . . . quaedam in abruptis montium mansionem rison, llfyths of the Odyssey, London, 1882, Clhap. v, " Myth
eligunt." The second clause suggests 582a, ofer beorghleoha of the Syrens"; Baumeister, Denkmdler des Klassischen
and may well apply to the Cliff Swallow, hirundofulva. Altertums, Munich, 1888, s. V. " Seirenen."

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 104 MODERN LANG UAOGE NOTES. [Vol. xxi, No. 4.

ception of a fish-woman or mermaid met and academic viewpoint and its consequent failure to
mingled with the classical idea of a bird-maiden.9 grasp the naive psychology of riddling, by the
The combined bird and fish aspects explain 728, usual perverted meanings and violent forcings of
fleah mid fuglum ond on fl5de swom. As no one the text. It is indeed strange that the close con-
will doubt the appositeness of the last line of the nection of this problem with another riddle of the
riddle, there remains to be discussed only 72', collection has been overlooked, and that, there-
deaf under g0e, dead mid fiseum. Every student fore, the proper answer has never been given. I
of myths knows that, " when Ulysses or the Argo- believe this to be "Moon," and I find three
nauts had passed in safety, the Sirens threw them- motives common to E. B. B., 95, and 30, "Moon
selves into the sea and were transformed into rocks " and Sun" (supra). These are the fame of the
(Harrison, p. 152, Note). In its narrative of subject among earth-dwellers, its capture of booty
these creatures, the Orphica Argonautica, 1293- in its proud hour and its later disappearance from
1295 (Latin translation of Cribellus, Hermann the sight of men. As briefly as possible, I shall
Edition) furnishes apt explanation of our enig- now translate and analyze the problem in the
matic line light of my solution. ' I am a noble being, known
"Ab obice saxi to earls and rest often with the high and the low,
Praecipites sese in pelagus misere profundum, famed among the folk (so of the Sun, E. B. R.,
Sed formam in petras, generosa corpora mutant." 10
308, seo i eallum cut, eorbbfiendum). I fare widely
The " scopulus " phase of the Siren thus appears (Thorpe's reading of 3b, fere). And to me (who
in Anglo-Saxon. Every condition of E. B. R., was) formerly remote from friends 1 (so the Moon
74, finds natural explanation in this widely spread refers to his periods of lonely darkness) remains
myth. (4b, stondeS; compare Wonders of Creation, 5)
E. B. R., 95 has long been the theme of booty,12 if I shall have glory in the burgs (com-
minute yet fruitless discussion. Dietrich's solu- pare 305, the Moon " would build himself a bower
tion, "Wandering Singer," which has been de- in the burg " ) and a bright course."2 Now wise
fended by Nuck (Anglia, x, 393-394), and (learned) men love very greatly my presence."'
Hicketier (Id., 584-592) is rightly rejected by
Professor Trautmann (p. 208) on many grounds. II In 954, I read with Brooke (Early English Literature
Yet his own answer, "Riddle," already twice p. 8) fremdum instead of MS. fremda (the text is corrupt
but I interpret the passage very differently. From its
championed by him (Anglia, vi, Anzeiger, 168;
position at the end of the first half-line, ce-r can hardly
viI, Anz., 210f.) and attacked at length in the a preposition governing freondum, but is rather an adverb
articles of Nuck and Hicketier, seems to me even modifyingfremdurn, which qualifies mg and is followed b
more unfortunate than that of Dietrich. His the usual dative construction (Sprachschatz, I, 338).
interpretation, to which he now devotes several 12955a, hAifendra hyht, "the delight of plunderers,"
but a circumlocution for hAihe, "booty," (302b 4b) as
pages (206-211), everywhere refutes itself by its
277b, fugles wyn and Professor Trautmann's own readin
524a, fugla fultum are periphrases of feher, " quill, " or a
The identity of Siren aiid Mermaid is seen in many 653s, 1Wbbendes hyht is equivalent to "the thing possessed.
Anglo-Saxon glosses (Bosworth-Toller, 8. v.). Philippe " Booty," as in B. B. B., 30, refers to the light captured
de Thaun, Bestiare, 664 f., tells us that " the Siren has the from the Sun, " the bright air-vessel " of the earlier riddl
make of a woman down to the waist, and the feet of a (303a). iElfric tells us, se mona and ealle steorran underfe5
falcon and the tail of a fish." So the creature is presented lioht of hUere miclan sunnan (De Temporibss, Leechdoms
in the illustration of the Old-High-German Gottveih III, 236).
PAlysiologus (Heider, Physiologus, Vienna, 1851, p. 10, is If 956b demands emendation, I accept gratefully Pro-
Plate 3). Anid Laurens Andrewe (The Babee8 Book, fessor Trautmann's gong for MS. god, as no word could
Early Engli8h Text Society, 32, 237-238) gives a like better suit the Moon's path in heaven. Or shall we retain
account. the MS. reading, beorhtne god, as classical and Germanic
10 How long this tradition persisted, we know from a belief assigns a god to the Moon (Grimm, Teutonic
painting of the death-dive of the Siren on the obverse of Mythology, 705, 1501), and our poet may be recording old
a Greek amphora (Baumeister, p. 1643, Plate 1700) and tradition ?
from a well-known illustration in Herrad von Lands- 14 The word anottre, 7a, is used by Byrhtferth of scholars
perg's Hortus Detsiciarunm, 1160 A. D. (Harrison, 171).
of this sort of lore (Anglia, viii, 330, 1. 33). Another

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 April, 1906.] MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES. 105

I shall to many reveal wisdom; l nor does any

one on earth speak a word (the Moon's teach- ANOTHER EARLY MONUMENT OF
ings, unlike those of an earthly master, are con- THE ITALIAN LANGUAGE.
veyed and received in silence). Though the
The sentence in Italian, which lends interest to
children of men, earth-dvellers, eagerly seek after
the document I am about to describe, was brought
my trail, I soinetimes (that is, when my light
wanes), conceal my track from each one of men."6 to my attention in the Spring of 1903 by Mr. J.
Since Professor Trautmann's few happy inter- A. Child, now instructor in the University of Cali-
pretations (E. B. R., 52, 53, 80) are those in fornia. While collecting records of legal proce-
which he has recanted former error, it is to be dure to be compared by the Italian Seminary of
hoped that he will reconsider and renounce many the Johns Hopkins University with the Carta
of the solutions once presented as obiter dicta. Capuana of 960 and the Carta di Teano of 964,
Yet I infer from a remark on page 183 that he he came upon a document of Suessa containing a
still clings to his "Threshing Flail" answer to sentence in Italian, which has apparently escaped
the "Loom" riddle, E. B. B., 57. Does be notice hitherto. Ever since then it has been our
still explain E. B. B., 6, as "Chopping-block," 9 intention to mention the matter in print, and I
as "Bell," 23 as "Bridge," 29 as "HIarp," 35 intended to write some comment on the formula
as "Bee," 61 as "Ruinenstab," 70 as "korn- in Italian, but now I am about to do little more
halm," 91 as "Sickle"? Does he still refuse than describe the document, for my attention has
to accept the "Badger" solution of E. B. B., been continually distracted by other matters, and
16, and the traditionial answer to the Sympho- the study I have been able to give to the words of
sius riddle, 86 ? One is curious to know. Such the sentence has elicited no valuable information,
contributions as his present article will always be because they are not new, and the early literature
welcome since they invite and stimulate lively of a similar dialect, with which they might be com-
discussion and strong dissent. pared, is scarce, and has been examined already by
others.
FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. The document in question, like its sisters the
Carta Capuana of 960 and the Carta di Teano
University of Termont. of 964, is published in the work of Gattola:
Historia Abbatiss Cassinensis,1 and in the sec-
tion entitled " Saeculum Sixtum Coenobii Cassi-
nensis; ab anno Christi 1000 ad 1100," which
Handboc passage (Id., 308, 19-24) shows the love of Eng- perhaps accounts for its being overlooked, since,
lish " wise men " for the Moon and his " wisdom ":- like the other two documents, it belongs to the
" Uton serest gl8awlice sw5re witan hwset he [s6 m6na] tenth century, and so is out of place under the
sj to s6te, ond hwanon he c6me ond hwset he d6 on P.tm
above heading.
gerime ove hwy he sr swi gehiten, oMe hwi hine
It is a notary's record of a trial held at Suessa,2
gemette, o'e hine Jtses wur6scipes cii6e Pset he sceolde
and
gestandan on Jim rimcrafte. Ic wit gere p*t he yscontains the following formula in Italian,
Reodscipes wyr8e." similar to those already known: -" Sao cco kelle
The Moon is the source and centre of Anglo-Saxon terre per kelle f?ii que tebe monstrai Pergoaldiforo
"wisdom" or scientific knowledge. Its orbit anid "leap,"
que ki contene, & per trenta anni le possette, . .
its cycles, its epacts, its relations to the weather, its effect
upon the tides are the leading themes of A4lfric's De Tem-
This formula occurs four times with slight varia-
poribus (Leechdoms, iii, 248, 264-268, 282). The Moon tions, namely: first, as given above; secondly,
is invaluable in prognostications (Id., 150-162, 177-197);with kella terra instead of kelle terre, conteno
and sets of course the time of Easter (Handboc, 322-330).
instead of contene, & trenta anni instead of & per
16 910b-13 is exactly parallel to 3015a-14 "Moon,"
trenta anni; thirdly, with the same variations as
ni&nig sibban I wera gewiste jicre wihte s8 and to Vienna
Ms. 67, No. 60 (Luna) (Mones Anzeiger, Vii, 219)
'I; pt. 1. 3W8-310.
"Quo movear gressu nullus cognoscere tentat. 2 The modern Sessa Auronca, in the province of Caserta:
Cernere nec vultus per diem signa valebit." the birthplace of the poet Lucilius.

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