Riddle Ages

Aldhelm Riddle 56: Castor

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Hospes praeruptis habitans in margine ripis

Non sum torpescens, oris sed belliger armis,

Quin potius duro vitam sustento labore

Grossaque prosternens mox ligna securibus uncis;

Humidus in fundo, tranat qua piscis, aquoso

Saepe caput proprium tingens in gurgite mergo.

Vulnera fibrarum necnon et lurida tabo

Membra medens pestemque luemque resolvo necantem;

Libris corrosis et cortice vescor amara.

Translation:

A guest living on the edge of steep banks,

I am not sluggish, but am instead a warrior with weapon-teeth;

Moreover, I maintain my life with hard work

And fell large forests directly with these curved axes;

To the watery bottom through which swims the wet fish 

Often I, dipping, plunge my own head in the waters.

Healing internal wounds as well as limbs stinking 

With gore, I destroy both disease and deadly plague;

I am fed on gnawed bark and bitter rind.

Click to show riddle solution?

Beaver

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 57: Aquila

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

“Armiger infausti Iovis et raptor Ganimidis”

Quamquam pellaces cantarent carmine vates,

Non fueram praepes, quo fertur Dardana proles,

Sed magis in summis cicnos agitabo fugaces

Arsantesque grues proturbo sub aetheris axe.

Corpora dum senio corrumpit fessa vetustas,

Fontibus in liquidis mergentis membra madescunt;

Post haec restauror praeclaro lumine Phoebi.

Translation:

“The esquire of unfortunate Jove and abductor of Ganymede” 

Deceitful poets may sing of me in their verses,

But I was not that bird by which the Trojan youth was brought,

Rather, I chase fleeing swans high in the air 

And I drive away rattling cranes beneath the pole of the heavens.

While weary old age destroys my body with decline,

My limbs grow wet, dipped into liquid streams;

After this I am restored by the brilliant light of Phoebus.

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Eagle

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 58: Vesper sidus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Tempore de primo noctis mihi nomen adhaesit,

Occiduas mundi complector cardine partes;

Oceano Titan dum corpus tinxerit almum

Et polus in glaucis relabens volvitur undis,

Tum sequor, in vitreis recondens lumina campis

Et fortunatus, subito ni tollar ab aethra,

Ut furvas lumen noctis depelleret umbras.

Translation:

My name sticks because of the early time of night,

When I encircle the western parts at the axis of the world;

While Titan immerses his nourishing body in the ocean,

And the sky, sliding down, is revolved into the grey waves,

Then I follow, hiding my lights in the glassy plains,

And I am fortunate that I am not suddenly removed from the skies,

So that my light may dispel the night’s dark shadows.

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Evening Star

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 59: Penna

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Me dudum genuit candens onocrotalus albam,

Gutture qui patulo sorbet de gurgite limphas.

Pergo per albentes directo tramite campos

Candentique viae vestigia caerula linquo,

Lucida nigratis fuscans anfractibus arva.

Nec satis est unum per campos pandere callem,

Semita quin potius milleno tramite tendit,

Quae non errantes ad caeli culmina vexit.

Translation:

The bright pelican begot me, white, a short time ago,

(The bird) who drinks waters from the sea with its throat wide open.

I go through whitened fields on a straight path

And leave dark traces on the gleaming road,

Darkening the shining earth with blackened twists and turns.

It is not enough to open one path through the fields,

Rather, the path stretches out in a thousand routes

And takes those who do not err from it to the summits of heaven.

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Quill Pen

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 60: Monocerus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Collibus in celsis saevi discrimina Martis,

Quamvis venator frustra latrante moloso

Garriat arcister contorquens spicula ferri,

Nil vereor, magnis sed fretus viribus altos

Belliger impugnans elefantes vulnere sterno.

Heu! fortuna ferox, quae me sic arte fefellit,

Dum trucido grandes et virgine vincor inermi!

Nam gremium pandens mox pulchra puerpera prendit

Et voti compos celsam deducit ad urbem.

Indidit ex cornu nomen mihi lingua Pelasga;

Sic itidem propria dixerunt voce Latini.

Translation:

Not at all do I fear the hazards of furious Mars,

Although the hunter with the dog barking in vain

Should chatter, the archer brandishing iron-tipped arrows, 

On the lofty hills; rather, equipped with great strength, 

I, an aggressive warrior, fell elephants with a blow.

Alas! Savage Fortune, who tricked me thus with guile,

For I slaughter great things and am overcome by a harmless virgin!

For, revealing her bosom, the beautiful woman catches me immediately 

And, with her wish fulfilled, leads me to the city.

The Greek language gave my name from my horn;

Thus do the Latins speak likewise in their tongue.

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Unicorn

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 61: Pugio

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

De terrae gremiis formabar primitus arte;

Materia trucibus processit cetera tauris

Aut potius putidis constat fabricata capellis.

Per me multorum clauduntur lumina leto,

Qui domini nudus nitor defendere vitam.

Nam domus est constructa mihi de tergore secto

Necnon et tabulis, quas findunt stipite, rasis.

Translation:

I was first formed with skill from the earth’s bosom;

The other material came from savage bulls

Or perhaps stands constructed from disgusting goats.

The eyes of many are closed in death through me,

Who, naked, endeavours to defend the life of my lord.

For my house is constructed from parcelled-out skin

As well as scraped wood, which they cut from a tree trunk.

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Dagger

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 62: Famfaluca

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

De madido nascor rorantibus aethere guttis

Turgida concrescens liquido de flumine lapsu,

Sed me nulla valet manus udo gurgite nantem

Tangere, ni statim rumpantur viscera tactu

Et fragilis tenues flatus discedat in auras.

Ante catervatim per limphas duco cohortes,

Dum plures ortu comites potiuntur eodem.

Translation:

I am born from drops drizzling from the wet sky,

Growing inflated in the waterfall in the river,

But no hand can touch me, swimming in the watery

Stream, or else my insides should rupture immediately on touch

And my fragile breath vanish into thin air.

I lead cohorts in companies through the waters from the front,

For my many companions have the same origin.

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Bubble

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 63: Corbus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Dum genus humanum truculenta fluenta necarent

Et nova mortales multarent aequora cunctos

Exceptis raris, gignunt qui semina saecli,

Primus viventum perdebam foedera iuris

Imperio patris contemnens subdere colla;

Unde puto dudum versu dixisse poetam:

“Abluit in terris, quidquid deliquit in undis.”

Nam sobolem numquam dapibus saturabo ciborum,

Ni prius in pulpis plumas nigrescere cernam.

Littera tollatur: post haec sine prole manebo.

Translation:

While stormy floods drowned the race of men

And new waters punished all mortals

With rare exceptions, who beget the seeds of the world,

I, first among the living, forfeited the covenants of law,

Refusing to subject my neck to the father’s command;

Whence I think the poet said long ago in verse:

'It washed away on earth what it did, transgressing, in the waves.'

For I shall never stuff my offspring with feasts of food,

Unless first I spot their feathers growing black in the flesh.

Let a letter be removed: after which I shall remain without progeny.

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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 64: Columba

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Cum Deus infandas iam plecteret aequore noxas

Ablueretque simul scelerum contagia limphis,

Prima praecepti complevi iussa parentis

Portendens fructu terris venisse salutem.

Mitia quapropter semper praecordia gesto

Et felix praepes nigro sine felle manebo.

Translation:

When God then punished unspeakable offences with the sea

And at the same time washed away the contagions of sins with waters,

I fulfilled the first decrees of the parent’s command,

Indicating with fruit that well-being had come to the earth.

On this account I always have a gentle heart

And I shall remain a happy bird without black bile.

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Dove

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 65: Muriceps

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Fida satis custos conservans pervigil aedes

Noctibus in furvis caecas lustrabo latebras

Atris haud perdens oculorum lumen in antris.

Furibus invisis, vastant qui farris acervos,

Insidiis tacite dispono scandala mortis.

Et vaga venatrix rimabor lustra ferarum,

Nec volo cum canibus turmas agitare fugaces,

Qui mihi latrantes crudelia bella ciebunt.

Gens exosa mihi tradebat nomen habendum.

Translation:

A sufficiently dependable protector, ever-vigilant, guarding the house,

I roam shadowy recesses on black nights,

By no means losing the light of my eyes in dark caves.

For the unseen thieves, who ravage the treasures of grain,

I quietly set traps of deadly snares.

And I, a roving huntress, search out the lairs of wild animals,

But I do not wish to stir up fierce throngs with dogs,

Who, barking at me, provoke merciless battles.

A race hateful to me bestowed the name I was to have.

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Cat

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 66: Mola

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Nos sumus aequales communi sorte sorores,

Quae damus ex nostro cunctis alimenta labore.

Par labor ambarum, dispar fortuna duarum;

Altera nam cursat, quod numquam altera gessit;

Nec tamen invidiae stimulis agitamur acerbis:

Utraque, quod mandit, quod ruminat ore patenti,

Comminuens reddit famulans sine fraude maligna.

Translation:

We are sisters, equals in our common fate,

Who give from our work food to all.

The work of both is equal, the fortune of us both unequal;

For one is in motion, which the other never is;

Nor are we yet vexed by the bitter stings of envy:

Whatever each one of us eats, chews with open mouth,

Crushing, it then returns, making it serviceable, without wicked fraud.

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Millstone

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 67: Cribellus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Sicca pruinosam crebris effundo fenestris

Candentemque nivem iactans de viscere furvo;

Et tamen omnis amat, quamvis sit frigida, nimbo

Densior et nebulis late spargatur in aula.

Qua sine mortales grassantur funere leti

(Sic animae pariter pereunt, dum vita fatescit)

Et qua ditati contemnunt limina Ditis.

Liquitur in prunis numquam torrentibus haec nix,

Sed, mirum dictu, magis indurescit ad ignem.

Translation:

Dry, I pour out through many windows a frosty

And shining snow, casting it out from my dark insides;

And yet everyone loves it, although it is cold, thicker

Than cloud and mists, and sprinkled broadly through the hall.

Without it, mortals are vexed by ruin’s death

(Thus do spirits perish equally, when life grows tired)

And enriched by it, they disdain the threshold of Dis.

This snow never melts on burning coals, 

But, miraculous to say, it hardens more in the flame.

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Sieve

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 68: Salpix

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Sum cava, bellantum crepitu quae corda ciebo,

Vocibus horrendis stimulans in bella cohortes.

Idcirco reboans tanto clamore resulto,

Quod nulla interius obtundant viscera vocem;

Spiritus in toto sed regnant corpore flabra.

Garrula me poterit numquam superare cicada

Aut arguta simul cantans luscinia ruscis,

Quam lingua propria dicunt acalantida Graeci.

Translation:

I am hollow, with my noise I shall rouse the hearts of warriors,

Spurring cohorts into battle with my dreadful notes.

Therefore, resounding with such a clamour I emit

Because no innards inside me deafen my voice; 

But the gusts of wind exercise power in my whole body.

A chirping cricket will never be able to surpass me,

Nor the lively nightingale, singing at the same time in the broom,

The bird that the Greeks in their own language call 'acalanthis'.

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Trumpet

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 69: Taxus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Semper habens virides frondenti in corpore crines

Tempore non ullo viduabor tegmine spisso,

Circius et Boreas quamvis et flamina Chauri

Viribus horrendis studeant deglobere frontem;

Sed me pestiferam fecerunt fata reorum,

Cumque venenatus glescit de corpore stipes,

Lurcones rabidi quem carpunt rictibus oris,

Occido mandentum mox plura cadavera leto.

Translation:

Always having green foliage on my leafy body,

At no time am I deprived of a thick covering,

Although Circus and Boreas and Chaurus’ gusts 

Devote themselves to peeling off my covering with horrible force;

But the fates of things made me pestilential:

Whenever a poisonous branch grows from my body

Which frenzied gluttons consume with gaping mouths,

I immediately kill dead the chewers’ many corpses.

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Yew-Tree

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 70: Tortella

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

De terris orior candenti corpore pelta

Et nive fecunda, Vulcani torre rigescens,

Carior et multo quam cetera scuta duelli;

Nec tamen in medio clipei stat ferreus umbo.

Me sine quid prodest dirorum parma virorum?

Vix artus animaeque carerent tramite mortis,

Ni forsan validis refrager viribus Orco.

Translation:

From the earth am I born, crescent-shield-shaped with a shining body

And fertile snow, hardening in Vulcan’s heat,

Yet I am much more precious than other war-shields;

And there is nevertheless no iron boss in the middle of this shield.

Without me what good is a shield for fearful warriors? 

Limbs and souls would barely be separated from death’s track 

If I did not resist Hades with worthy strength.

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Loaf of Bread

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 71: Piscis

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Me pedibus manibusque simul fraudaverat almus

Arbiter, immensum primo dum pangeret orbem.

Fulcior haud volitans veloci praepetis ala

Spiritus alterno vegitat nec corpora flatu.

Quamvis in caelis convexa cacumina cernam,

Non tamen undosi contemno marmora ponti.

Translation:

The blessed creator withheld feet and hands from me

At the same time, when he first arranged the immense world. 

I am not supported, flying, by a bird’s swift wing

And breath in alternating blows does not strengthen my body.

Although I discern vaulted summits in the heavens,

I nevertheless do not disdain the marbly surface of the surging sea.

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Fish

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 72: Colosus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Omnia membra mihi plasmavit corporis auctor,

Nec tamen ex isdem membrorum munia sumpsi,

Pergere nec plantis oculis nec cernere possum,

Quamquam nunc patulae constent sub fronte fenestrae.

Nullus anhelanti procedit viscere flatus

Spicula nec geminis nitor torquere lacertis.

Heu! frustra factor confinxit corpus inorme,

Totis membrorum dum frauder sensibus intus.

Translation:

My body’s maker shaped all my limbs,

And yet with them I do not benefit from the functions of limbs,

I am neither able to walk on feet or see with eyes,

Although wide-open windows stand now below my brow.

No breath comes from my panting insides

Nor do I endeavour to hurl weapons with both arms.

Alas! My creator fashioned this enormous body in vain,

For inside I am cheated of all feeling in my limbs.

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Colossus

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 73: Fons

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Per cava telluris clam serpo celerrimus antra

Flexos venarum girans anfractibus orbes;

Cum caream vita sensu quoque funditus expers,

Quis numerus capiat vel quis laterculus aequet,

Vita viventum generem quot milia partu?

His neque per caelum rutilantis sidera sperae

Fluctivagi ponti nec compensantur harenae.

Translation:

Through empty hollows of the earth I spread, secretly and very quickly,

Following the winding circuits of its channels around the bend;

Though I lack life and am also totally without sensation,

What number could capture or what calculation get at 

How many thousands of living things I bring to life through birth? 

Neither the stars of the glowing sphere of heaven 

Nor the sands of the stormy sea are equivalent to these.

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Fountain

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 74: Fundibalum

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Glauca seges lini vernans ex aequore campi

Et tergus mihi tradebant primordia fati.

Bina mihi constant torto retinacula filo,

Ex quibus immensum trucidabam mole tirannum,

Cum cuperent olim gentis saevire falanges.

Plus amo cum tereti bellum decernere saxo

Quam duris pugnans ferrata cuspide contis.

Tres digiti totum versant super ardua corpus;

Erro caput circa tenues et tendor in auras.

Translation:

The brilliant crop of flax blooming from the field’s plain

And animal hide gave me the origins of my fate.

I have a double band of twined cord,

With a rock from these I slew a great tyrant

When at that time phalanxes of Gentiles wished to attack.

I would rather determine a battle with a polished stone

Than fight with hard spears with iron points.

Three fingers drive my whole body into the heights;

I circle around the head and am stretched into thin air.

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Sling

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 75: Crabro

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Aera per sudum nunc binis remigo pennis

Horridus et grossae depromo murmura vocis

Inque cavo densis conversor stipite turmis

Dulcia conficiens propriis alimenta catervis,

Et tamen humanis horrent haec pabula buccis.

Sed quicumque cupit disrumpens foedera pacis

Dirus commaculare domum sub culmine querno,

Extemplo socias in bellum clamo cohortes,

Dumque catervatim stridunt et spicula trudunt,

Agmina defugiunt iaculis exterrita diris:

Insontes hosti sic torquent tela nocenti

Plurima, quae constant tetris infecta venenis.

Translation:

Now I row through clear air on two wings,

Horrible, and I produce a buzzing with a full voice

And I frequent a hollow trunk in thick swarms,

Producing sweet food for our own kind,

And yet these foods are disgusting to human mouths.

But if someone dreadful, disrupting pacts of peace, 

Wishes to defile our home under its oaken roof,

I immediately rally groups of our fellows to battle,

And while they buzz in groups and thrust their stings,

The enemy troops flee, terrified of our cruel darts:

Thus, innocent, they send their many darts, which stand

Corrupted by foul poison, to the guilty enemy.

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Hornet

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 76: Melarius

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Fausta fuit primo mundi nascentis origo,

Donec prostratus succumberet arte maligni;

Ex me tunc priscae processit causa ruinae,

Dulcia quae rudibus tradebam mala colonis.

En iterum mundo testor remeasse salutem,

Stipite de patulo dum penderet arbiter orbis

Et poenas lueret soboles veneranda Tonantis.

Translation:

The beginning of the young world was happy at first,

Until the overthrown one succumbed to the deceit of the evil one;

The cause of the ancient ruin then came from me,

Who was giving out sweet apples to the uncultivated inhabitants.

Behold: I attest that well-being returned to the world again,

When the judge of the world was suspended from a stretched-out tree

And the venerable son of the Thundering God atoned for sins.

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Apple Tree

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 77: Ficulnea

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Quis prior in mundo deprompsit tegmina vestis

Aut quis clementer miserum protexit egenum?

Irrita non referam verbis nec frivola fingam.

Primitus in terra proprio de corpore peplum,

Ut fama fertur, produxi frondibus altis;

Carica me curvat, dum massis pabula praestat,

Sedulus agricola brumae quas tempore mandit.

Translation:

Who in the world was quicker to produce the coverings of garment

Or who more gently covered the miserable needy? 

I do not report nullities nor do I fashion trifles with my words.

First on earth a robe from my own body,

As the story goes, I produced with high foliage;

The fig bends me, while it offers food in masses,

Which the attentive farmer eats in wintertime.

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Fig Tree

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 78: Cupa vinaria

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

En, plures debrians impendo pocula Bacchi,

Vinitor expressit quae flavescentibus uvis

Pampinus et viridi genuit de palmite botris,

Nectare cauponis complens ex vite tabernam.

Sic mea turgescunt ad plenum viscera musto,

Et tamen inflatum non vexat crapula corpus,

Quamvis hoc nectar centenis hauserit urnis.

Proles sum terrae glescens in saltibus altis;

Materiam cuneis findit sed cultor agrestis

Pinos evertens altas et robora ferro.

Translation:

Behold, inebriating many, I give out Bacchus’ goblets,

Which the vintner pressed from yellowing grapes

And the vine produced from the grape’s green sprout,

Filling the innkeeper’s tavern with the nectar from the vine.

Thus my insides grow full with new wine,

And yet drunkenness does not afflict my swollen body,

Even though it might drink this nectar in a hundred jars.

I am offspring of the earth, growing in deep forests;

But the country farmer splits my material with wedges,

Uprooting tall pines and oaks with iron.

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Wine-cask

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 79: Sol et luna

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

Non nos Saturni genuit spurcissima proles

Iupiter, immensum fingunt quem carmina vatum,

Nec fuit in Delo mater Latona creatrix;

Cynthia non dicor nec frater Apollo vocatur,

Sed potius summi genuit regnator Olimpi,

Qui nunc in caelis excelsae praesidet arci.

Dividimus mundum communi lege quadratum:

Nocturnes regimus cursus et frena dierum.

Ni soror et frater vaga saecula iure gubernent,

Heu! chaos immensum clauderet cuncta latebris

Atraque nunc Erebi regnarent Tartara nigri.

Translation:

Saturn’s vilest child did not produce us—

That is, Jupiter, whom the poets’ songs depict as immense— 

Nor was mother Latona our creator on Delos; 

I am not called Cynthia and my brother is not called Apollo,

But rather the ruler of high Olympus,

Who now presides over the lofty castle on high, did produce us.

We divide the four-part world with a shared law:

We rule the nocturnal courses and the mastery of days.

If sister and brother did not govern the unstable world with authority,

Alas! measureless chaos would surround everything in shadow

And then black Erebus would reign over gloomy Tartarus.

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Sun and Moon

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 80: Calix vitreus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022

Original text:

De rimis lapidum profluxi flumine lento,

Dum frangant flammae saxorum viscera dura

Et laxis ardor fornacis regnat habenis;

Nunc mihi forma capax glacieque simillima lucet.

Nempe volunt plures collum constringere dextra

Et pulchre digitis lubricum comprendere corpus;

Sed mentes muto, dum labris oscula trado

Dulcia compressis impendens basia buccis,

Atque pedum gressus titubantes sterno ruina.

Translation:

From cracks in rocks I flowed in a slow stream,

While flames shatter the hard insides of rocks

And the heat of the furnace rules, with the reins being slack;

Now my shape, retentive and very like ice, shines. 

Indeed, many wish to hold fast my neck with their right hand

And grasp my beautifully smooth body their fingers;

But I change minds when I give their lips kisses,

Bestowing sweet kisses on their pressed-together mouths,

And with ruin I vanquish the staggering steps of their feet.

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Glass Goblet

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