Aldhelm Riddle 95: Scilla
ALEXANDRAREIDER
Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022Ecce, 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.
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.
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