Aldhelm Riddle 42: Strutio

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022
Original text:

Grandia membra mihi plumescunt corpore denso;
Par color accipitri, sed dispar causa volandi,
Summa dum exiguis non trano per aethera pennis,
Sed potius pedibus spatior per squalida rura
Ovorum teretes praebens ad pocula testas;
Africa Poenorum me fertur gignere tellus.

Translation:

The large limbs on my compact body grow feathers.
I am like the hawk in colour, but unlike in the matter of flying
Because I do not travel through the upper air on small wings.
Rather, I walk on my feet through dirty countryside,
Supplying the polished shells of my eggs as cups.
The country said to produce me is Phoenician Africa.

Click to show riddle solution?
Ostrich


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