Riddle Ages

Aldhelm Riddle 81: Lucifer

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Semper ego clarum praecedo lumine lumen

Signifer et Phoebi, lustrat qui limpidus orbem,

Per caelum gradiens obliquo tramite flector;

Eoas partes amo, dum iubar inde meabit

Finibus Indorum, cernunt qui lumina primi.

O felix olim servata lege Tonantis!

Heu! post haec cecidi proterva mente superbus;

Ultio quapropter funestum perculit hostem.

Sex igitur comites mecum super aethera scandunt,

Gnarus quos poterit per biblos pandere lector.

Translation:

I always precede the clear light with my own light

And am the sign-bearer of Phoebus, who shines brightly over the world,

Advancing through the sky I am turned along an oblique path;

I love the eastern regions, for my brilliance passes thence 

To the territories of the Indians, who glimpse the lights first.

O how happy I was once, when the law of the Thunderer was obeyed!

Alas! After this I fell, proud in my reckless intent;

Therefore, punishment overthrew the deadly enemy.

As a result, six fellows ascend through the heavens with me,

Which the knowledgeable reader will be able to explain with books.

Click to show riddle solution?

Lucifer

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 82: Mustela

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Discolor in curvis conversor quadripes antris

Pugnas exercens dira cum gente draconum.

Non ego dilecta turgesco prole mariti,

Nec fecunda viro sobolem sic edidit alvus,

Residuae matres ut sumunt semina partus;

Quin magis ex aure praegnantur viscera fetu.

Si vero proles patitur discrimina mortis,

Dicor habere rudem componens arte medelam.

Translation:

A multicoloured quadruped, I dwell in curved caves,

Undertaking fights with the dreadful race of dragons.

I do not swell with the beloved offspring of a husband,

Nor does my womb, pregnant by a male, produce progeny

As do the other mothers who receive the seeds of young;

Rather, what is more, my insides are made pregnant with child from my ear.

If indeed my baby should suffer the hazards of death,

I am said to have envisaged a new cure with my skill.

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Weasel

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 83: Iuvencus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Arida spumosis dissolvens faucibus ora

Bis binis bibulus potum de fontibus hausi.

Vivens nam terrae glebas cum stirpibus imis

Nisu virtutis validae disrumpo feraces;

At vero linquit dum spiritus algida membra,

Nexibus horrendis homines constringere possum.

Translation:

Opening my dry mouth with foaming jaws,

Thirsty, I drank up liquid from twice-two fountains.

For, living, I break the fertile clods of earth with deep roots

Through the labour of my strength;

But indeed when breath leaves my cold limbs,

I am able to bind men with horrendous fetters.

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Young Bull

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 84: Scrofa praegnans

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Nunc mihi sunt oculi bis seni in corpore solo

Bis ternumque caput, sed cetera membra gubernant.

Nam gradior pedibus suffultus bis duodenis,

Sed decies novem sunt et sex corporis ungues,

Sinzigias numero pariter similabo pedestres.

Populus et taxus, viridi quoque fronde salicta

Sunt invisa mihi, sed fagos glandibus uncas,

Fructiferas itidem florenti vertice quercus

Diligo; sic nemorosa simul non spernitur ilex.

Translation:

Now I have twice-six eyes in one body

And twice-three heads, but my other limbs are in charge.

For I walk supported by twice-twelve feet,

But my body has ninety-six toenails,

Likewise in this number I resemble the metrical syzygies.

The poplar and the yew-tree, also the green-leafed willow trees

Are hated by me, but the crooked beech-tree with its beechnuts,

As well as the fruitful oak-trees with their flowering top,

I love; in the same way, at the same time, is the leafy holm-oak not spurned.

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Pregnant Sow

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 85: Caecus natus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Iam referam verbis tibi, quod vix credere possis,

Cum constet verum fallant nec frivola mentem.

Nam dudum dederam soboli munuscula grata,

Tradere quae numquam poterat mihi quislibet alter,

Dum Deus ex alto fraudaret munere claro,

In quo cunctorum gaudent praecordia dono.

Translation:

Now I shall relate in words to you what you will hardly be able believe,

Though it is the truth and not follies that cheat the mind.

For once I gave welcome little gifts to my son,

Which no one else was ever able to give me,

Because God from on high deprived me of the bright gift,

The gift in which the hearts of all are glad.

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A Man Born Blind

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 86: Aries

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Sum namque armatus rugosis cornibus horrens,

Herbas arvorum buccis decerpo virentes,

Et tamen astrifero procedens agmine stipor,

Culmina caelorum quae scandunt celsa catervis.

Turritas urbes capitis certamine quasso

Oppida murorum prosternens arcibus altis.

Induo mortales retorto stamine pepli;

Littera quindecima praestat, quod pars domus adsto.

Translation:

For I am dreadful, armed with rough horns,

I gather the fields’ green grasses with my mouth,

And yet, advancing, I am crowded by starry company,

Which ascend the lofty heights of the heavens in groups.

I crush turreted cities with my head’s combat,

Overthrowing the towns of walls with their high strongholds.

I clothe mortals with fabric’s twisted thread;

If the fifteenth letter stands in front, I stand as part of a house.

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Ram

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 87: Clipeus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

De salicis trunco, pecoris quoque tergore raso

Componor patiens discrimina cruda duelli.

Semper ego proprio gestantis corpore corpus

Conservabo, viri vitam ne dempserit Orcus.

Quis tantos casus aut quis tam plurima leti

Suscipit in bello crudelis vulnera miles?

Translation:

From the trunk of the willow-tree, also from the cattle’s scraped hide,

Am I composed, awaiting the bloody hazards of war.

I shall always guard the body of my carrier with my own

Body, so that Orcus will not rob the man’s life.

What fierce soldier incurs such losses or so many 

Deadly wounds in battle?

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Shield

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 88: Basiliscus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Callidior cunctis aura vescentibus aethrae

Late per mundum dispersi semina mortis;

Unde horrenda seges diris succrevit aristis,

Quam metit ad scelera scortator falce maligna;

Cornigeri multum vereor certamina cervi.

Namque senescenti spoliabor pelle vetustus

Atque nova rursus fretus remanebo iuventa.

Translation:

Craftier than all those who rely on the air in the sky,

I spread the seeds of death widely throughout the world;

Whence grew a dreadful crop with its fearful harvest,

Which the Fornicator reaps to wicked ends with his malign scythe;

I am very much afraid of contests with the antlered stag.

When aged, I will certainly be spoiled of my decaying skin

And I will continue again, strengthened by my new youth.

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Serpent

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 89: Arca libraria

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Nunc mea divinis complentur viscera verbis

Totaque sacratos gestant praecordia biblos;

At tamen ex isdem nequeo cognoscere quicquam:

Infelix fato fraudabor munere tali,

Dum tollunt dirae librorum lumina Parcae.

Translation:

Now my entrails are filled with divine words 

And all my organs carry sacred books;

And yet from them I cannot learn anything:

Unhappy, I am deprived by fate of such a gift,

Because the dreadful Parcae remove the books’ illumination.

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Library Chest

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 90: Puerpera geminas enixa

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Sunt mihi sex oculi, totidem simul auribus hausi,

Sed digitos decies senos in corpore gesto;

Ex quibus ecce quater denis de carne revulsis

Quinquies at tantum video remanere quaternos.

Translation:

I have six eyes, at the same time as I perceive sound with exactly that many ears,

But I carry sixty fingers and toes on my person;

And yet behold, with forty of them torn from my flesh,

I see that only twenty remain.

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Woman Birthing Twins

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 91: Palma

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Omnipotens auctor, nutu qui cuncta creavit,

Mi dedit in mundo tam "victrix" nomen habendum.

Nomine nempe meo florescit gloria regum,

Martiribus necnon, dum vincunt proelia mundi,

Edita caelestis prensant et praemia vitae;

Frondigeris tegitur bellantum turma coronis

Et viridi ramo victor certamine miles.

In summo capitis densescit vertice vellus,

Ex quo multiplicis torquentur tegmina pepli;

Sic quoque mellifluis escarum pasco saginis

Nectare per populos tribuens alimenta ciborum.

Translation:

The omnipotent author, who created all things by his will,

Gave me the name "victorious" to have in the world. 

Of course the glory of the kings flourishes in my name,

And also for the martyrs, who, when they win the world’s battles,

Take hold of the elevated rewards of celestial life;

The crowd of warriors is covered with leafy crowns

And the soldier, the victor in the contest, with a green branch.

At the top point of my head grows foliage,

From which the coverings of different fabrics are woven;

So too I sustain with the honeyed nourishment of food,

Bestowing items of food among the people with my nectar.

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Palm

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 92: Farus editissima

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Rupibus in celsis, qua tundunt caerula cautes

Et salis undantes turgescunt aequore fluctus,

Machina me summis construxit molibus amplam,

Navigeros calles ut pandam classibus index.

Non maris aequoreos lustrabam remige campos

Nec ratibus pontum sulcabam tramite flexo

Et tamen immensis errantes fluctibus actos

Arcibus ex celsis signans ad litora duco

Flammiger imponens torres in turribus altis,

Ignea brumales dum condunt sidera nimbi.

Translation:

On the towering rocks, where the sea beats the rocks

And the salt-waves swell the floods with the sea,

Apparatus constructed me, extensive, with the highest structure,

So that I, a revealer, might disclose the navigable paths to fleets.

I do not traverse the watery fields of the sea with oar 

Nor do I plow through the sea on a curved path with ships

But nevertheless I lead drifting ships impelled by the immense waves

To shore, giving out signals from my lofty summit;

The flame-bearer lights the firebrands in the high towers,

While the winter clouds conceal the fiery stars.

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A Very Tall Lighthouse

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 93: Scintilla

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Quae res in terris armatur robore tanto

Aut paribus fungi nitatur viribus audax?

Parva mihi primo constant exordia vitae,

Sed gracilis grandes soleo prosternere leto,

Quod letum proprii gestant penetralia ventris.

Nam saltus nemorum densos pariterque frutecta

Piniferosque simul montes cum molibus altos

Truxque rapaxque capaxque feroxque sub aethere spargo

Et minor existens gracili quam corpore scnifes,

Frigida dum genetrix dura generaret ab alvo

Primitus ex utero producens pignora gentis.

Translation:

What thing on earth is equipped of such strength

Or, bold, labors to discharge similar strength?

At first my foundations in life are but little,

But, though meagre, I tend to overthrow the great in ruin,

Which ruin the innermost parts of my womb themselves carry.

For dense regions of forest and likewise thickets

As well as pine-bearing mountains with high mounds

I, savage and greedy and able and aggressive, squander under the heavens,

And with my meagre form I stand smaller than a flea,

When my cold, hard mother brings me from her womb,

Producing from her uterus for the first time the offspring of her race.

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Spark

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 94: Ebulus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Sambucus, in silva putris dum fronde virescit,

Est mihi par foliis; nam glesco surculus arvis

Nigros bacarum portans in fronte corimbos.

Quem medici multum ruris per terga virentem,

Cum scabies morbi pulpas irrepserit aegras,

Lustrantes orbem crebro quaesisse feruntur:

Cladibus horrendae, dum vexat viscera tabo,

Ne virus serpat, possum succurrere, leprae,

Sic olidas hominum restaurans germine fibras.

Translation:

The elder tree, when it grows, putrid, in the woods,

Is like me in its leaves; for I grow as a sprig in the fields,

Carrying black bunches of berries on my brow.

Doctors, when the roughness of disease creeps on to sick skin,

Are said frequently to have sought much of me, 

Growing green, by roaming the world around the back country: 

I am able to bring remedy so that the poison of leprosy, horrendous in its harm

When it irritates the insides with pestilence, does not progress,

Thus restoring fetid bowels with my sprout.

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Wallwort

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 95: Scilla

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Ecce, molosorum nomen mihi fata dederunt

(Argolicae gentis sic promit lingua loquelis),

Ex quo me dirae fallebant carmina Circae,

Quae fontis liquidi maculabat flumina verbis:

Femora cum cruribus, suras cum poplite bino

Abstulit immiscens crudelis verba virago.

Pignora nunc pavidi referunt ululantia nautae,

Tonsis dum trudunt classes et caerula findunt

Vastos verrentes fluctus grassante procella,

Palmula qua remis succurrit panda per undas,

Auscultare procul, quae latrant inguina circum.

Sic me pellexit dudum Titania proles,

Ut merito vivam salsis in fluctibus exul.

Translation:

Behold, the Fates gave me the name of dogs

(Thus does the language of the Argive people express it in speech),

After the songs of frightful Circe deceived me,

She who sullied the streams from the flowing fountain with words:

Thighs as well as shins, calves with both knees, 

The cruel woman removed, joining words.

Fearful sailors now tell of the howling offspring—

When the fleets drive through with oars and cleave the sea,

Sweeping along the vast waves as the storm advances,

And the curved blade of the oar runs through the waves—

That they hear far away, which bay around my loins.

Thus did Titania’s progeny once deceive me,

Such that I deservedly live as an exile in the salt-waves.

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Scylla

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 96: Elefans

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Ferratas acies et denso milite turmas,

Bellandi miseros stimulat quos vana cupido,

Dum maculare student armis pia foedera regni

Salpix et sorbet ventosis flatibus auras

Raucaque clangenti resultant classica sistro,

Cernere non pavidus didici trux murmura Martis.

Quamquam me turpem nascendi fecerit auctor,

Editus ex alvo dum sumpsi munera vitae,

Ecce tamen morti successit gloria formae,

Letifer in fibras dum finis serpat apertas;

Bratea non auri fulvis pretiosa metallis,

Quamvis gemmarum constent ornata lucernis,

Vincere, non quibunt falerarum floribus umquam.

Me flecti genibus fessum natura negavit

Poplite seu curvo palpebris tradere somnos,

Quin potius vitam compellor degere stando.

Translation:

The iron-covered battle lines and throngs of crowded soldiers,

The wretches whom the vain desire for fighting spurs on,

When they strive to dishonour the holy treaties of the kingdom with weapons,

And the trumpet sucks in the airs with windy gusts

And the harsh instruments echo with sounding call:

Wild, I learned to regard the rumble of Mars unafraid.

Although the creator made me unsightly at birth,

When, tall out of the womb, I assumed the gifts of life,

Behold: the glory of my shape nevertheless succeeds upon my death,

When the death-bringing end creeps into my open insides;

Precious golden foils with amber metals,

Although they be decorated with the shine of gems, 

Are never able to surpass me at the zenith of ornamentations.

Nature refused me kneeling when tired

And entrusting sleep to my eyelids on curved knee;

Even more, I am compelled to pass my life standing.

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Elephant

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 97: Nox

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Florida me genuit nigrantem corpore tellus

Et nil fecundum stereli de viscere promo,

Quamvis Eumenidum narrantes carmine vates

Tartaream partu testentur gignere prolem.

Nulla mihi constat certi substantia partus,

Sed modo quadratum complector caerula mundum.

Est inimica mihi, quae cunctis constat amica,

Saecula dum lustrat, lampas Titania Phoebi;

Diri latrones me semper amare solebant,

Quos gremio tectos nitor defendere fusco.

Vergilium constat caram cecinisse sororem:

"Ingrediturque solo et caput inter nubila condit

Monstrum horrendum, ingens, cui quot sunt corpore plumae,

Tot vigiles oculi subter, mirabile dictu,

Tot linguae, totidem ora sonant, tot subrigit auris;

Nocte volat caeli medio terraeque per umbras."

Translation:

Blooming earth bore me, black, from her body

And I produce nothing fertile from my sterile insides,

Although the poets, telling of the Eumenides in verse,

Testify that I begot the Tartarean race in birth.

No substance of certain birth belongs to me,

But I presently embrace the four-part world with darkness.

The Titanian lantern of Phoebus, who exists as a friend to all

As it roams the world, is inimical to me;

Cruel thieves, whom I work to protect in my dark bosom,

Always tend to love me.

It is known that Vergil sang this of my dear sister:

"And she walks on land and conceals her head among the crowds,

A horrendous monster, huge, on whose body there are so many feathers,

So many vigilant eyes underneath, miraculous to say,

So many tongues, the same number of mouths sound, and so many ears perked up;

At night she flies through the shadows, in-between heaven and earth."

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Night

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 98: Elleborus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Ostriger en arvo vernabam frondibus hirtis

Conquilio similis: sic cocci murice rubro

Purpureus stillat sanguis de palmite guttis.

Exuvias vitae mandenti tollere nolo

Mitia nec penitus spoliabunt mente venena;

Sed tamen insanum vexat dementia cordis,

Dum rotat in giro vecors vertigine membra.

Translation:

Behold: purple, I bloom in the field with shaggy leaves.

I am similar to an oyster: thus with red dye of scarlet 

A purple blood drips in drops from my branch.

I do not wish to take prizes of life from the one chewing me,

Nor do my sweet poisons totally strip him of mind;

And yet madness of the heart afflicts the insane,

When he spins his limbs around, foolish with dizziness.

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Hellebore

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 99: Camellus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Consul eram quondam, Romanus miles equester

Arbiter imperio dum regni sceptra regebat;

Nunc onus horrendum reportant corpora gippi

Et premit immensum truculentae sarcina molis.

Terreo cornipedum nunc velox agmen equorum,

Qui trepidi fugiunt mox quadripedante meatu,

Dum trucis aspectant immensos corporis artus.

Translation:

Once I was consul, when the Roman equestrian soldier was

Judge, governed the scepters of power with his command.

Now my body bears the horrible burden of a hump

And an excess of cruel weight presses with its burden.

Now I terrify a swift company of horn-footed horses,

Who presently flee in trepidation from my four-footed course,

When they look upon the immense limbs of my wild body.

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Camel

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 100: Creatura

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Conditor, aeternis fulcit qui saecla columnis,

Rector regnorum, frenans et fulmina lege,

Pendula dum patuli vertuntur culmina caeli,

Me varium fecit, primo dum conderet orbem.

5     Pervigil excubiis: numquam dormire iuvabit,

Sed tamen extemplo clauduntur lumina somno;

Nam Deus ut propria mundum dicione gubernat,

Sic ego complector sub caeli cardine cuncta.

Segnior est nullus, quoniam me larbula terret,

10     Setigero rursus constans audacior apro;

Nullus me superat cupiens vexilla triumphi

Ni Deus, aethrali summus qui regnat in arce.

Prorsus odorato ture flagrantior halans

Olfactum ambrosiae, necnon crescentia glebae

15     Lilia purpureis possum conexa rosetis

Vincere spirantis nardi dulcedine plena;

Nunc olida caeni squalentis sorde putresco.

Omnia, quaeque polo sunt subter et axe reguntur,

Dum pater arcitenens concessit, jure guberno;

20     Grossas et graciles rerum comprenso figuras.

Altior, en, caelo rimor secreta Tonantis

Et tamen inferior terris tetra Tartara cerno;

Nam senior mundo praecessi tempora prisca,

Ecce, tamen matris horno generabar ab alvo

25     Pulchrior auratis, dum fulget fibula, bullis,

Horridior ramnis et spretis vilior algis.

Latior, en, patulis terrarum finibus exto

Et tamen in media concludor parte pugilli,

Frigidior brumis necnon candente pruina,

30     Cum sim Vulcani flammis torrentibus ardens,

Dulcior in palato quam lenti nectaris haustus

Dirior et rursus quam glauca absinthia campi.

Mando dapes mordax lurconum more Ciclopum,

Cum possim iugiter sine victu vivere felix.

35     Plus pernix aquilis, Zephiri velocior alis,

Necnon accipitre properantior, et tamen horrens

Lumbricus et limax et tarda testudo palustris

Atque, fimi soboles sordentis, cantarus ater

Me dicto citius vincunt certamine cursus.

40     Sum gravior plumbo: scopulorum pondera vergo;

Sum levior pluma, cedit cui tippula limphae;

Nam silici, densas quae fudit viscere flammas,

Durior aut ferro, tostis sed mollior extis.

Cincinnos capitis nam gesto cacumine nullos,

45     Ornent qui frontem pompis et tempora setis,

Cum mihi caesaries volitent de vertice crispae,

Plus calamistratis se comunt quae calamistro.

Pinguior, en, multo scrofarum axungia glesco,

Glandiferis iterum referunt dum corpora fagis

50     Atque saginata laetantur carne subulci;

Sed me dira famis macie torquebit egenam,

Pallida dum iugiter dapibus spoliabor opimis.

Limpida sum, fateor, Titanis clarior orbe,

Candidior nivibus, dum ningit vellera nimbus,

55     Carceris et multo tenebris obscurior atris

Atque latebrosis, ambit quas Tartarus, umbris.

Ut globus astrorum plasmor teres atque rotunda

Sperula seu pilae necnon et forma cristalli;

Et versa vice protendor ceu Serica pensa

60     In gracilem porrecta panum seu stamina pepli.

Senis, ecce, plagis, latus qua panditur orbis,

Ulterior multo tendor, mirabile fatu;

Infra me suprave nihil per saecula constat

Ni rerum genitor mundum sermone coercens.

65     Grandior in glaucis ballena fluctibus atra

Et minor exiguo, sulcat qui corpora, verme

Aut modico, Phoebi radiis qui vibrat, atomo;

Centenis pedibus gradior per gramina ruris

Et penitus numquam per terram pergo pedester.

70     Sic mea prudentes superat sapientia sofos,

Nec tamen in biblis docuit me littera dives

Aut umquam quivi, quid constet sillaba, nosse.

Siccior aestivo torrentis caumate solis,

Rore madens iterum plus uda flumine fontis;

75     Salsior et multo tumidi quam marmora ponti

Et gelidis terrae limphis insulsior erro,

Multiplici specie cunctorum compta colorum,

Ex quibus ornatur praesentis machina mundi,

Lurida cum toto nunc sim fraudata colore.

80     Auscultate mei credentes famina verbi,

Pandere quae poterit gnarus vix ore magister

Et tamen infitians non retur frivola lector!

Sciscitor inflatos, fungar quo nomine, sofos. 

EXPLICIUNT ENIGMATA.

Translation:

The creator, who supports the worlds on eternal columns, 

The ruler of kingdoms, controlling lightning with law, 

While the pendant peaks of wide heaven are rotated,

Made me, various, when he first founded the world.

5     Ever vigilant at the watch: it will never please me to sleep,

But rather my eyes are suddenly closed in dream;

For as God rules the world with his own pronouncement, 

So do I comprise all things under the pole of heaven.

Nothing is more sluggish, for a ghost terrifies me,

10     And in addition, I stand bolder than the bristly boar;

Nothing desiring the banner of triumph overcomes me

Except God, who reigns on high in his heavenly stronghold.

I am certainly more fragrant than perfumed incense, exhaling

The smell of ambrosia, and I am also able to surpass

15     The lilies, growing in the earth joined with red roses, 

By means of the full sweetness of the scent-giving nard;

And now I decay with the rank filth of squalid dirt.

Everything which is under the sky and are directed by its orbit

As the heavenly father permits I rule by right;

20     I include the thick and thin forms of things. 

Behold, higher than the sky, I can investigate the Thunderer’s secrets

And yet lower than the earth I can see gloomy Tartarus;

For, being older than the world, I preceded ancient time,

See, and yet I will be born from my mother’s womb this year;

25     I am more beautiful than golden bosses when a brooch gleams,

I am more horrible than bramble and more vile than contemptible seaweed.

Behold, I am more extensive than the wide ends of the earth

And yet I am confined in a handful,

And colder than winter and shining hoar-frost,

30     Though I burn in Vulcan’s blazing flames, 

I am sweeter on the palate than a taste of sticky nectar,

And on the other hand more dreadful than grey wormwood in the field.

Biting, I chew my meals in the manner of gluttonous Cyclops,

Though I can likewise live happily without food.

35     I am swifter than eagles, faster than Zephyr’s wings,

And also more hastening than a hawk, and yet the horrible

Earthworm and snail and slow tortoise of the swap

And the black beetle, offspring of foul dung, 

Defeat me in race’s contest more quickly than the saying.

40     I am heavier than lead: I verge on the weight of rocks;

I am lighter than a feather, to which a water-bug cedes;

For I am harder than flintstone, which pours dense flames from its insides,

Or iron, but softer than cooked insides.

For I bear no curls on the crown of my head

45     To adorn my forehead with pomp and my temples with hair, 

Although curled tresses rush from my head

More curled than hair curled by a curling iron.

Behold, I swell much fatter than the grease of sows,

When they repeatedly give their bodies acorn-bearing beech

50     And swineherds are made happy by the fattened flesh; 

But cruel famine tortures me, needy, with emaciation,

When, pale, I am forever deprived of rich feasts.

I am clear, I admit, brighter than Titan’s orb, 

Whiter than the snows when a cloud drops fleece like snow,

55     And much darker than the black shadows of the prison

And the secret shades which Tartarus encircles.

I am fashioned smooth and round like the orb of the stars

Or the sphere of a ball as well as the shape of a crystal;

And on the other hand I am held out like suspended silk cloth,

60     Stretched into thin thread or a vestment’s fibers.

See, I extend much father, miraculous to say, 

Than the six territories by which the wide world is measured;

Nothing throughout the world is below or above me 

Except the creator of things, controlling the world with his word.

65     I am bigger than the black whale in grey waves

And smaller than the little worm that furrows through corpses

And the humble mote that flickers in the sun’s rays. 

I advance on a hundred feet through grassy country

And absolutely never go on earth on foot.

70     Thus my wisdom surpasses that of wise men,

And yet the precious letter in books did not teach me,

Nor was I ever able to know what a syllable was.

I am drier than the summer heat of a flaming sun,

Dripping with dew, on the other hand I am wetter than a fountain’s stream;

75     I am much saltier than the waters of the swelling sea

And I move about fresher than the earths’ icy waters,

Decorated with the manifold appearance all the colours 

With which the present system of the world is adorned,

I am now wan, defrauded of all colour.

80     Pay attention, you who believe the words I say,

A wise teacher will barely be able to disclose them orally

And yet the skeptical reader should not deem them trifles!

I ask puffed-up wise men what name I enjoy.

HERE END THE RIDDLES.

Click to show riddle solution?

Creation

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