| RIDDLE 14 | RIDDLE 14 |
| Anon. | trans. Louis Rodrigues (from Anglo-Saxon) |
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Ic wæs wæpenwiga. Nu mec wlonc þeceð geong hagostealdmon golde ond sylfore, woum wirbogum. Hwilum weras cyssað hwilum ic to hilde hleoþre bonne wilgehleþan; hwilum wycg byreþ mec ofer mearce; hwilum merehengest fereð ofer flodas, frætwum beorhtne; hwilum mægða sum minne gefylleð bosm beaghroden; hwilum ic on bordum sceal, heard, heafodleas, behlyþed licgan; hwilum hongige hyrstum frætwed, wlitig, on wage, þær weras drincað, freolic fyrdsceorp; hwilum folcwigan on wicge wegað þonne ic winde sceal sincfag swelgan of sumes bosme; hwilum ic gereordum rincas laðige wlonce to wine; hwilum wraþþum sceal stefne minre forstolen hreddan, flyman feondsceaþan. Frige hwæt ic hatte. |
I was a weaponed-warrior. Now the proud young retainer wraps me with silver and gold, carved twisted wires. Sometimes men kiss me; sometimes with song I summon to battle close comrades sometimes a steed bears me over the mark; sometimes the sea-horse ferries me over floods, bright with treasures; sometimes a maiden, ring-adorned, fills my bosom; sometimes on boards, hard and headless, I must lie stripped; sometimes hang, adorned with jewels, fair, on the wall, where warriors drink, a noble war-weapon; sometimes warriors on horseback bear me; then I must swallow breath from a bosom, gleaming with gold; sometimes with my tongue I summon proud warriors to wine; sometimes from foes I must with my voice rescue spoil, rout plundering robbers. Ask what I am called. "Horn" and "Bullhorn" have been suggested as solutions. |
Transl. copyright © Louis J. Rodrigues, 1998 - publ. Llanerch Publishers
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