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Riddles (Anglo-Saxon Style) Trivia Quiz

The Anglo-Saxons banished the doom and gloom of the Dark Ages with light-hearted riddles! See if you can solve these ancient brain teasers found in the "Exeter Book".

A multiple-choice quiz by pagiedamon. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
pagiedamon

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
299,660

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
1400

Awards
Top 5% quiz!

Last 3 plays: Guest 185 (6/10), rayvendragon (9/10), Guest 108 (8/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. "My dress is silver, shimmering gray, spun with a blaze of garnets.
I craze most men: rash fools I run on a road of rage,
And cage quiet determined men.
Why they love me--lured from mind, stripped of strength--remains a riddle."

Who am I? Hint

Wine

Beautiful woman

Prostitute

Lightning

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. "A wonderful warrior exists on earth.
Two dumb creatures make him grow bright between them.
Enemies use him against one another.
His strength is fierce but a woman can tame him."

Who is this warrior? Hint

Spear

Sword

Fire

Genital organ

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. "When I am alive I do not speak.
Anyone who wants to, takes me captive and cuts off my head.
They bite my bare body.
I do no harm to anyone unless they cut me first.
Then I soon make them cry."

Who am I? Hint

A baby

A woman

An onion

A lamb

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. "I am all on my own,
Wounded by iron weapons and scarred by swords.
I often see battle."

What am I? Hint

Shield

Heart

Horse

Grass

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. "Often I burn
Countless living creatures on middle-earth,
Treat them to terror though I touch them not."

What am I? Hint

Moon

Water

Cloud

Sun

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. "Sometimes men kiss (me);
Sometimes I summon to battle with my sound
The beloved companions;
Sometimes the horse carries me over the ground;
Sometimes some maiden fills my bosom ring-adorned;
Sometimes I must lie on tables"

What am I? Hint

Flute

Hawk

Horn

Plate

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. "He stepped up, eager and agile, lifted his tunic
With hard hands, thrust through her girdle
Something stiff, worked on the standing one his will.
Both swayed and shook, the young man hurried, was sometimes useful,
Served well, but always tired sooner than she, weary of the work.
Under her girdle began to grow a hero's reward for laying on dough."

What was the hero's reward? Hint

Butter

Sexual release

A baby

None of these

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. "The midnight guardian of my lord's treasure
When the conquering warrior comes to hold
The gift of slaughter, the joy of gold."

Who is the guardian? Hint

A dragon

A key

A wife

Blood

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. "Head down, nosing--I belly the ground.
Hard snuffle and grub, I bite and furrow
Drawn by the dark enemy of forests,
Driven by a bent lord who hounds my trail,
Who lifts and lowers me, rams me down,
Pushes on plain, and sows seed."

Who am I? Hint

Captive woman

Slave

Plow

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. "Two feathered flappers came together,
Panting and pushing in the open air.
The bright-haired girl, flushed and proud,
Grew big in the belly if the work was good."

Who came together? Hint

Man and woman

Rooster and hen

Stallion and mare

Boar and sow

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Most Recent Scores

Nov 28 2024 : Guest 185: 6/10
Nov 03 2024 : rayvendragon: 9/10
Nov 01 2024 : Guest 108: 8/10

Score Distribution

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. "My dress is silver, shimmering gray, spun with a blaze of garnets. I craze most men: rash fools I run on a road of rage, And cage quiet determined men. Why they love me--lured from mind, stripped of strength--remains a riddle." Who am I?

Answer: Wine

The silver dress is the wine goblet, which was often adorned with precious stones, such as garnets. The alcohol in the wine makes men crazy, rash, and full of rage. Though the wine strips men of their strength (the worst thing possible in such a macho world), men still love it. Some things never change.

2. "A wonderful warrior exists on earth. Two dumb creatures make him grow bright between them. Enemies use him against one another. His strength is fierce but a woman can tame him." Who is this warrior?

Answer: Fire

The "warrior" is fire. The fire is created when two sticks (i.e., "two dumb creatures") are rubbed together. Fire was often used to burn the towns and homes of enemies. However, it could be put out by anyone--even a woman!

(University of Aberdeen, http://www.abdn.ac.uk/english/beowulf/riddle.htm)

3. "When I am alive I do not speak. Anyone who wants to, takes me captive and cuts off my head. They bite my bare body. I do no harm to anyone unless they cut me first. Then I soon make them cry." Who am I?

Answer: An onion

There are bawdier versions of this riddle, which include the words "red skin and hardness", but I abstained from using them this once! The onion's juice, it seems, has been bringing tears to eyes for many centuries!

4. "I am all on my own, Wounded by iron weapons and scarred by swords. I often see battle." What am I?

Answer: Shield

Anglo-Saxons were quite fascinated with shields, if their numerous mentions
in literature are any indicator. In this riddle, the shield is wounded and
scarred by the swords of enemies.

5. "Often I burn Countless living creatures on middle-earth, Treat them to terror though I touch them not." What am I?

Answer: Sun

This riddle refers to the sun--an object of terror to people who often had to survive famines. The sun could be a frightening oppressor, without ever "touching" a person.

6. "Sometimes men kiss (me); Sometimes I summon to battle with my sound The beloved companions; Sometimes the horse carries me over the ground; Sometimes some maiden fills my bosom ring-adorned; Sometimes I must lie on tables" What am I?

Answer: Horn

Horns, taken from oxen, were used to create a loud trumpet-like
sound before a battle. They were also used as vessels to hold beverages at
feast-tables. (Williamson, "A Feast of Creatures", 1982).

7. "He stepped up, eager and agile, lifted his tunic With hard hands, thrust through her girdle Something stiff, worked on the standing one his will. Both swayed and shook, the young man hurried, was sometimes useful, Served well, but always tired sooner than she, weary of the work. Under her girdle began to grow a hero's reward for laying on dough." What was the hero's reward?

Answer: Butter

What dirty minds you all have! The "her" and "she" in question are a churn. The
hero's reward, for all of his thrusting and swaying (the churn), is the production of butter!

8. "The midnight guardian of my lord's treasure When the conquering warrior comes to hold The gift of slaughter, the joy of gold." Who is the guardian?

Answer: A key

The midnight guardian is the key that keeps the warrior's treasure safe at night. Treasure is called "the gift of slaughter", because it was often accumulated through battles and bloodshed.

9. "Head down, nosing--I belly the ground. Hard snuffle and grub, I bite and furrow Drawn by the dark enemy of forests, Driven by a bent lord who hounds my trail, Who lifts and lowers me, rams me down, Pushes on plain, and sows seed." Who am I?

Answer: Plow

The vast majority of Anglo-Saxons were farmers. As such, their interests were tightly interwoven with the land. This riddle describes a plow that battles the "enemy of forests" (weeds, pests, etc.). The plow is driven by a bent lord--the poor, overworked farmer!

10. "Two feathered flappers came together, Panting and pushing in the open air. The bright-haired girl, flushed and proud, Grew big in the belly if the work was good." Who came together?

Answer: Rooster and hen

As you have seen, many of the Anglo-Saxon riddles are earthy--even bawdy--in their construction. Unlike many of the ecclesiastical and elegiac literature left behind by the Anglo-Saxons (and recorded mainly by monks), the riddles offer a bright glimpse of their humorous side.

Source: Author pagiedamon

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