RIDDLE POSTS BY CONTRIBUTOR: ALEXANDRAREIDER

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?

Click to show riddle solution?
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



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Symphosius Riddle 87: Pistillus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 10 Sep 2022
Original text:

Contero cuncta simul virtutis robore magno.
Una mihi cervix, capitum sed forma duorum.
Pro pedibus caput est: nam cetera corpore non sunt.

Translation:

I grind all things together with great strength of power.
I have one neck, but the shape of two heads.
There is a head in the place of feet: for there are not other parts for my body.

Click to show riddle solution?
Pestle


Notes:

This edition is based on Raymond T. Ohl, ed. The Enigmas of Symphosius. PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1928.

If you're researching/studying this collection, you should also consult this excellent new edition: T. J. Leary, ed. Symphosius: The Aenigmata, An Introduction, Text and Commentary. London: Bloomsbury, 2014. Textual differences in that edition include:

  • line 3: non sunt > absunt


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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.

Click to show riddle solution?
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



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Symphosius Riddle 88: Strigilis aenea

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 10 Sep 2022
Original text:

Rubida curva capax, alienis humida guttis,
Luminibus falsis auri mentita colorem,
Dedita sudori, modico subcumbo labori.

Translation:

Copper-coloured, curved, capacious, damp with foreign drops,
Counterfeiting through false lights the colour of gold,
Given over to sweat, I succumb to some effort.

Click to show riddle solution?
Bronze Strigil


Notes:

This edition is based on Raymond T. Ohl, ed. The Enigmas of Symphosius. PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1928.



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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.

Click to show riddle solution?
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



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Symphosius Riddle 89: Balneum

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 10 Sep 2022
Original text:

Per totas aedes innoxius introit ignis;
Est calor in medio magnus quem nemo veretur.
Non est nuda domus, sed nudus convenit hospes.

Translation:

Through the whole house a harmless fire enters;
There is a great heat in the middle which no one fears.
The house is not bare, but a nude guest is appropriate.

Click to show riddle solution?
Bath-house


Notes:

This edition is based on Raymond T. Ohl, ed. The Enigmas of Symphosius. PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1928.



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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.

Click to show riddle solution?
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



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Symphosius Riddle 90: Tessera

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 10 Sep 2022
Original text:

Dedita sum semper voto, non certa futuri.
Iactor in ancipites varia vertigine casus
Nunc ego maesta malis, nunc rebus laeta secundis.

Translation:

I am always dedicated to a vow, not certain of the future.
I am thrown into the varied whirling of twofold chance.
Now I am sorrowful because of misfortune, now I am happy because of good fortune.

Click to show riddle solution?
A die


Notes:

This edition is based on Raymond T. Ohl, ed. The Enigmas of Symphosius. PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1928.



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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. 

Click to show riddle solution?
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



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Symphosius Riddle 91: Pecunia

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 10 Sep 2022
Original text:

Terra fui primo, latebris abscondita terrae;
Nunc aliud pretium flammae nomenque dederunt,
Nec iam terra vocor, licet ex me terra paretur.

Translation:

First I was earth, concealed in the earth’s hiding places;
Now flames have given me another value and name,
I am not called earth now, although earth is obtained through me.

Click to show riddle solution?
Money


Notes:

This edition is based on Raymond T. Ohl, ed. The Enigmas of Symphosius. PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1928.



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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.

Click to show riddle solution?
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



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Symphosius Riddle 92: Mulier quae geminos pariebat

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 10 Sep 2022
Original text:

Plus ego sustinui quam corpus debuit unum.
Tres animas habui, quas omnes intus habebam;
Discessere duae, sed tertia paene peregit.

Translation:

I have sustained more than one body should.
I had three souls, all of which I had inside;
Two left, but the third one almost finished too.

Click to show riddle solution?
Mother who had twins


Notes:

This edition is based on Raymond T. Ohl, ed. The Enigmas of Symphosius. PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1928.



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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.

Click to show riddle solution?
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



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Symphosius Riddle 93: Miles podagricus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 10 Sep 2022
Original text:

Bellipotens olim, saevis metuendus in armis,
Quinque pedes habui, quod numquam nemo negavit.
Nunc mihi vix duo sunt; inopem me copia reddit.

Translation:

I was once martial, ferocious and feared in arms,
I had five feet, which no one ever denied.
Now I barely have two: abundance has rendered me helpless.

Click to show riddle solution?
Soldier with gout


Notes:

This edition is based on Raymond T. Ohl, ed. The Enigmas of Symphosius. PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1928.



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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.

Click to show riddle solution?
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



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Symphosius Riddle 94: Luscus alium vendens

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 10 Sep 2022
Original text:

Cernere iam fas est quod vix tibi credere fas est:
Unus inest oculus, capitum sed milia multa.
Qui quod habet vendit, quod non habet unde parabit?

Translation:

Now it is possible to see what is scarcely possible to believe:
There is one eye, but many thousand heads.
From where will he, who sells what he has, acquire what he does not have?

Click to show riddle solution?
One-eyed garlic seller


Notes:

This edition is based on Raymond T. Ohl, ed. The Enigmas of Symphosius. PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1928.



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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.

Click to show riddle solution?
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



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Symphosius Riddle 95: Funambulus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 10 Sep 2022
Original text:

Inter luciferum caelum terrasque iacentes
Aera per medium docta meat arte viator.
Semita sed brevis est, pedibus nec sufficit ipsis.

Translation:

Between light-bearing heaven and the earth lying below
Through mid-air by learned skill the traveller goes.
But the path is narrow, and the feet themselves do not suffice.

Click to show riddle solution?
Tight-rope walker


Notes:

This edition is based on Raymond T. Ohl, ed. The Enigmas of Symphosius. PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1928.



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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.

Click to show riddle solution?
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



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Symphosius Riddle 96

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 10 Sep 2022

There is no actual Riddle 96 attributed to Symphosius: there is a gap in the manuscripts, but this riddle has been inserted into four of the manuscripts, so it kind of counts!



Original text:

Nunc mihi iam credas, fieri quod posse negatur.
Octo tenes manibus, sed me monstrante magistro
Sublatis septem reliqui tibi sex remanebunt.

Translation:

Right now you should believe me that what is said to be impossible happens.
You hold eight in your hands, but with me showing you as teacher,
With seven taken away, six remaining will be left to you.

Click to show riddle solution?
Roman numerals formed with your hands? Words?


Notes:

This edition is based on Raymond T. Ohl, ed. The Enigmas of Symphosius. PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1928.



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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."

Click to show riddle solution?
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



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Symphosius Riddle 97: Umbra

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 10 Sep 2022
Original text:

Insidias nullas vereor de fraude latenti;
Nam deus attribuit nobis haec munera formae,
Quod me nemo movet, nisi qui prius ipse movetur.

Translation:

I fear no traps from lurking fraud;
For God gave us these gifts of form,
That no one moves me unless he himself is moved first.

Click to show riddle solution?
Shadow


Notes:

This edition is based on Raymond T. Ohl, ed. The Enigmas of Symphosius. PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1928.



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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.

Click to show riddle solution?
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



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Symphosius Riddle 98: Echo

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 10 Sep 2022
Original text:

Virgo modesta nimis legem bene servo pudoris:
Ore procax non sum, nec sum temeraria linguae;
Ultra nolo loqui, sed do responsa loquenti.

Translation:

A modest maid, I follow the law of modesty excessively well:
I am not shameless in speech nor am I reckless in language;
I do not speak of my own accord, but I give responses to the speaker.

Click to show riddle solution?
Echo


Notes:

This edition is based on Raymond T. Ohl, ed. The Enigmas of Symphosius. PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1928.



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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. 

Click to show riddle solution?
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