Aldhelm Riddle 35: Nycticorax
ALEXANDRAREIDER
Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022Duplicat ars geminis mihi nomen rite figuris;
Nam partem tenebrae retinent partemque volucres.
Elaro me quisquam cernet sub luce serena,
Quin magis astriferas ego nocte fovebo latebras.
Raucisono medium crepitare per aethera suescens
Romuleis scribor biblis, sed voce Pelasga,
Nomine nocturnas dum semper servo tenebras.
My power fittingly reproduces my name in two ways;
For the shadows hold part and the birds part.
Rarely does someone see me in bright light,
All the more so because at night I keep to starlit lairs.
I am used to twittering in mid-air in a harsh-sounding way.
I am written in Latin books, though in the Greek language,
While I always guard nocturnal shadows with my name.
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