Exeter Book Riddle 47

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Exeter Book Riddle 47 (according to the numbering of the Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records) is one of the most famous of the Old English riddles found in the later tenth-century Exeter Book. Its solution is 'book-worm' or 'moth'.

Contents

Text

Original Formal equivalence Translation
Moððe word fræt.     Mē þæt þuhte
wrǣtlicu wyrd,     þā ic þæt wundor gefrægn,
þæt se wyrm forswealg     wera gied sumes,
þēof in þȳstro,     þrymfæstne cwide
ond þæs strangan staþol.     Stælgiest ne wæs
wihte þȳ glēawra,     þe hē þām wordum swealg. [1]
A moth ate words.     To me that seemed
a fantastical event,     when I found that wonder out,
that a worm swallowed     the poem of a some person,
a thief in darkness,     a glorious statement
and its strong foundation.     The thieving stranger was not
a whit more wise     that he swallowed those words.
A moth ate words. I thought that was a marvelous fate,
that the worm, a thief in the dark, should eat
a man's words — a brilliant statement,
its foundation strong. Not a whit the wiser
was he for having fattened himself on those words.

Glossary

form in textheadword formgrammatical informationkey meanings
icicpersonal pronounI
cwidecwidemasculine strong nounutterance, sentence, saying
forswealgfor-swelganstrong verbswallow up, consume
frætfretanstrong verbdevour, eat, consume, gnaw away
giedgieddneuter strong nounpoem, song, report, tale, utterance, saying
glēawraglēawadjectivewise, discerning, prudent
personal pronounhe
moððemoððefeminine weak nounmoth
ondandconjunctionand
nenenegative particlenot
sesemasculine demonstrative pronounthat
stælgieststæl-giestmasculine strong nounstealing guest, theft-guest
staþolstaðolmasculine strong nounbase, foundation, support
strangstrangadjectivestrong, powerful, bold, brave, severe
sumessumindefinite pronouna certain one, someone, something
swealgswelganstrong verbswallow
þāþāadverbthen, when
þāmsedemonstrative pronounthat
þætþæt1. neuter demonstrative pronoun

2. adverb

1. it, that

2. so that

þeþerelative particlewho, which, that
þēofþēofmasculine strong nouncriminal, thief, robber
þrymfæstneþrym-fæstadjectiveglorious, noble, mighty
þuhteþyncanweak verbseem
þȳþætdemonstrative pronounit, that
þȳstroþēostrufeminine noundarkness
wæswesanirregular verbbe
werawermasculine strong nounman
wihtewihteadverbat all
wordwordneuter strong nounword, utterance
wordumwordneuter strong nounword, utterance
wrǣtlicuwrǣtlicadjectivewondrous, strange; artistic, ornamental
wyrdwyrdfeminine strong nounevent, fate
wyrmwyrmmasculine strong nounworm, maggot

Interpretation

The extensive commentary on this riddle is concisely summarised by Cavell, [2] and more fully by Foys. [3]

Editions


Recordings

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References

  1. George Philip Krapp and Elliott Van Kirk Dobbie (eds), The Exeter Book, The Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records, 3 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1936), p. 205, with vowel-length marks added.
  2. M. C. Cavell, 'Commentary for Riddle 47', https://theriddleages.bham.ac.uk/riddles/post/commentary-for-exeter-riddle-47/ (23 November 2015).
  3. Martin Foys, 'The Undoing of Exeter Book Riddle 47: "Bookmoth" ', in Transitional States: Cultural Change, Tradition and Memory in Medieval England (Tempe, AZ: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2017), working paper at https://www.academia.edu/15399839.