English Riddles Research Articles

Emotional Anthologies: The Exeter Riddles and the Psalms

ABSTRACT The Old English riddles run the gamut in terms of emotional and rhetorical range, constituting a kind of micro-anthology within the wider anthology of the Exeter Book. They explore an assortment of stances, including not only of lament and celebration, but humiliation, anger, triumph, fear, and more. In doing so, they may channel the Psalms, as the emotional anthology which most dominated early medieval English culture. In his Expositio Psalmorum, Cassiodorus analysed the rhetoric of the Psalms in strongly emotional terms, and this chapter experiments with approaching the Riddles with an eye to his definitions of demonstrative, judicial, and deliberative oratory, each associated with different emotional dynamics. It closes with reflections on how Riddle 1 introduces the Exeter collection, contemplating how this text hints at the emotionally generative capacities of literature, as well as how it stages the tensions created by imbuing nonhuman speakers with psalmic voices. In playing with such a powerful literary model and set of emotional scripts, the Riddles foreground the ways in which literature can create new and surprising forms for emotional experience.

Параметризация как способ реализации прототипической модели в русских и английских народных загадках

This article is devoted to the analysis of the structural features of Russian and English folk riddles containing parametric data in the descriptive part. The purpose of the study is to identify the features of the implementation of prototypical constructions of folk riddles containing an indication of the parametric data of the denotation. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that for the first time Russian and English riddles are analyzed from the point of view of the linguistic implementation of a stable prototypical model of the enigmatic genre. For the first time, the inclusion of parametric indicators in the descriptive part of a folk riddle is considered as a way to realize the effect of an illogical consequence typical for the structure of the genre organization; in addition, the authors for the first time investigate the presence of a “linguocultural” codification of the denotation through parametric data. The results showed that the inclusion of parametric indicators in the description of the denotation is due to the need to implement a prototypical model of the enigmatic genre – the model of illogical consequence. In addition, it was found that the inclusion of parametric indicators in the English and Russian corpus of folk riddles is often implemented using zoomorphic and anthropomorphic codes. During the analysis of the illustrative material, it was found that for the Russian folk riddle, the appeal to parameters is associated with the tendency to describe a number of independent objects as a single mechanism, which directly reveals the logic of archaic human thinking, while the appeal to parametric data within the framework of the English riddle is motivated by the description of a procedural action.

‘Exeter Riddle 4’ and Two Other Bell Riddles

ABSTRACT In early medieval England, the ringing of bells served a wide range of functions. This article argues that a detailed understanding of bells and their everyday use can help to explain the intricate narratives and elaborate language of three Latin and Old English riddles. The first, the late antique ‘Riddle 80’ by Symphosius, describes a dinner bell and the idle chatter of a drunken party. The second, Tatwine of Canterbury’s ‘Riddle 7’, presents a funeral bell hanging in a tower as a deposed emperor who is hung and beaten. The third, the well-known ‘Exeter Riddle 4’, presents an everyday monastic bell as if it were an obedient monk, and it casts their relationship as interdependent and symbiotic. The bell solution has been heavily disputed. However, when the riddle is read alongside the rich context of monastic culture, and with careful attention to linguistic detail, this solution is confirmed.

Verbal Coding of the Sun in Riddles

The paper aims at providing a comparative research of how the enigmatic spirit of riddles manifests itself when various conceptions serve to describe the Sunin Ukrainian and English traditions. The three-component cosmonym coding analysis in riddles implies the decoding of the SUN image concerning its attributive, predicative, and nominative aspects. The explicit and/or implicit manifestations of the attributive and predicative characteristics are considered to constitute the core of the SUN concept in the consciousness of Ukrainian and English language speakers. In most Ukrainian and English riddles, the description of the SUN is most frequently based on the conceptions of its round shape, unreachable location, and the main function – to shine.

Birds in Medieval English Poetry: Metaphors, Realities, Transformations

Birds in Medieval English Poetry: Metaphors, Realities, Transformations

Finding the Ways of Widening the Language Communicative Competence: Riddles in EFL Classroom

As an essential component of communicative culture, foreign language communicative competence is an integral part of student training. In this regard, the efforts of researchers are aimed at improving the efficiency of the process of formation of foreign language communicative competence, as well as the organization of successful speech interactions. The purpose of the study is to substantiate the conditions for the construction of foreign language communicative competence based on linguistic and sociocultural approaches, in particular the study of riddles. The essential ways of texting English riddles reflect the cognitive features of English linguistic culture and are reduced to the metabolization of the original values, the transformation of the perception of the object, recombination of its features, and replacement of its usual notation by non-standard. The riddle immediately contains a task, an obstacle. Guessing is an action aimed at demonstrating the overcoming of these difficulties. In situational contexts, guessing riddles pursues different goals, uses different ways of text creation to achieve them. The main strategies of a foreign language puzzle due to its functional purpose: heuristic, entertaining, and status. The usual techniques to create a game effect of ambiguity of a riddle are based on homophony, homomorphism and their combination, homographs, manipulation of stress and pause, an associative blending of units of different language levels, syntax reversal, as well as literalization of idioms.

BiRdQA: A Bilingual Dataset for Question Answering on Tricky Riddles

A riddle is a question or statement with double or veiled meanings, followed by an unexpected answer. Solving riddle is a challenging task for both machine and human, testing the capability of understanding figurative, creative natural language and reasoning with commonsense knowledge. We introduce BiRdQA, a bilingual multiple-choice question answering dataset with 6614 English riddles and 8751 Chinese riddles. For each riddle-answer pair, we provide four distractors with additional information from Wikipedia. The distractors are automatically generated at scale with minimal bias. Existing monolingual and multilingual QA models fail to perform well on our dataset, indicating that there is a long way to go before machine can beat human on solving tricky riddles. The dataset is publicly available at https://forms.gle/NvT7DfWhAPhvoFvH7.

Old English Enigmatic Poems and Their Reception in Early Scholarship and Supernatural Fiction

The scholarly reception history of the Old English riddles and adjacent “enigmatic poems” of the Exeter Book reveals a long process of creating intelligibility and order out of a complicated and obscure manuscript context. Understanding this history of reception allows us to see the influence of Old English poetry on modern creative medievalism, including the unexpected influence of medieval “enigmatic” poetry on the modern genre of supernatural fiction. Specifically, it is argued that the scholarly reception of folios 122v–123v of the Exeter Anthology was instrumental in inspiring one of the acknowledged classic ghost stories of the twentieth century, M.R. James’s “Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad”.

Objects That Object, Subjects That Subvert: Agency in Exeter Book Riddle 5

A sequence of Old English riddles from the Exeter Book allow an implement to speak. This article focuses on one example, Riddle 5, generally solved as either a shield or a cutting board, to show how each interpretation gives voice not just to an inanimate object but also to a non-elite member of early medieval English society—either a foot-soldier or a kitchen hand. The two solutions come together because the two answers are captured in a single Old English word—“bord”—and also because the two interpretations resonate in parallel ways, creating sympathy for down-trodden members of society who rarely get so much attention in the surviving poetic record. This article argues that Old English riddles provide an enduring legacy of social critique crafted through humor.

Культурные коды: репрезентация солнца в английских и русских загадках

The paper aims to identify the means of semiotic encoding of the sun in Russian and English riddles. The study focuses on the lexical units which metaphorically encode and describe the denotation “sun”. The scientific originality of the research lies in the fact that it reveals the cultural codes which reflect the features of Russian and English linguocultures while representing the sun. The results of the research are as follows: both the linguocultures use the anthropic, spatial and functional codes to describe the dominant position of the sun among the other celestial bodies along with its location and actions; in English riddles, the sun indicates the spatial arrangement of the world and time; in Russian riddles, the beauty, shape and the colour of the sun are emphasized.

Культурные коды в английских и русских загадках о природе

The aim of the study is to identify the cultural codes in the English and Russian riddles about natural phenomena and objects. The article deals with the lexical units that metaphorically describe the denotation of the riddle. The scientific originality of the research lies in the fact that this work compares the cultural codes that describe the world around and represent the specifics of the English and Russian linguocultures. The results of the study demonstrate that in the Russian and English riddles, both similar means of metaphorical coding and culturally determined codes that represent the specifics of the perception and description of natural phenomena by representatives of the studied linguocultures function.

Exeter Book Riddles 48 and 59 and the Malmesbury Ciborium

Most commentators on Riddles 48 and 59 in the tenth-century Exeter Book relate them to church plate, the solution supposedly being a gold paten or chalice or pyx. Yet these answers are not compelling. Problems remain. Recent discussion of the Malmesbury Ciborium and other twelfth-century ciboria in London or New York now permits a fresh approach. The solution to both Old English riddles will be ciborium, a vessel of precious metal used to contain consecrated wafers or hosts at the eucharist. The Malmesbury Ciborium and similar pieces make this clear. Round and made of gold, they had a shorter and squatter outline than a chalice; they possessed lids, inscriptions, and representations of Bible scenes (the Crucifixion amongst them); they were yet larger than a pyx (used not in services but to carry a few wafers only, as on visits to the sick). These aspects parallel those of the object in the two riddles: a ring-like item of gold which is gazed upon and revered by people in a hall, which makes no noise and yet conveys a message of salvation, and which (in the second riddle) displays Christ’s wounds. If this analysis is sound, it deepens understanding of early English poetry. It also informs us on Anglo-Saxon goldsmiths, who produced magnificent works of art (as the literary sources prove) now lost, the gold having long been melted down for the purpose of exchange or as loot. Study of the two poems indicates as well how philologists and experts on material culture can work together, especially for the Exeter Book’s other riddles.

HULING HULING ACCA (HHA) AS ENGLISH RIDDLES FOR FUN EFL LEARNING STRATEGY IN TOBA

Abstract 
 
 In this study the researchers want to describe about Huling-huling Acca (Hha) As English Riddles For Fun EFL Learning Strategy In Toba. In conducting the researchers, the research designis Etnografi is a type of qualitative research design. To collect the data the study employ the interview with five questions and observation given to children and the people of Sosordolok, Toba Samosir. This study investigest of HHA as English riddles with five types of values according by (Paul Suparno), there are; sosialismy, adversity quotient, responsibilities, environment, self-relience. As a result the study, It turns out that a lot of kids and people around here are poorly informed about huling-huling acca (hha). As researchers carried out further research, many people which had come to understand hha have proved invaluable. To illustrate "sae mangan ro siganjang obuk" so the values can can in this example of hha are moral and ethical. Because it should have finished eating the rest of the dirt must be eaten. Therefore these hha can be made into a fun learning medium and as an enhanced batak culture in its own language.
 Key words: Huling-huling acca, english riddles, EFL, learning strategy

Стилистические приемы, обычно используемые в английских загадках

True riddles consist of two parts, one functioning as a question, the other as an answer. In riddling the answerer or riddle tries to find an acceptable answer to the question. Sometimes riddles are deliberately misled because the “right” answer is completely unexpected. The article includes the definition of riddles, types of riddles and analysis of stylistic devices used in English riddles. Stylistic devices make our speeches more interesting and livelier and help us to get and keep our reader’s and listener’s attention. Stylistic devices often provide emphasis, freshness of expression, or clarity. In the article it is clarified three main levels of stylistic devices: phonetic, lexical and syntactical stylistic devices commonly used in English riddles.

The Use of Rune in Old English Riddles

The Use of Rune in Old English Riddles

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SOME LYRIC AND EPIC GENRES IN AZERBAIJANI AND ENGLISH CHILDREN’S FOLKLORE


 
 
 Children's folklore genres play a very important role in children’s development. Article is devoted to the comparative study of some lyric and epic genre features of Azerbaijani and English children's folklore. Children folklore has a lot of common peculiarities. But there are also some differences. In this regard, the subject of the research is fundamental and comparative typological analysis of the lyric and epic genres of Azerbaijani and English children’s folklore were involved to the research. Article provides a comparative analysis of both Azerbaijani and English lullabies, riddles, tongue twister, and children's songs. Thus, the similarity of folklore genres in the study is linked to the closeness of human thought and its relation to reality. The similar life conditions of Azerbaijani and English peoples and the stereotypes of behavior formed according to these situations, oral traditions, especially comparisons of children's folklore texts revealed parallels in terms of information. Similarities in connection with life conditions are clearly observed in many children's folklore genres, as well as in some lyric and epic genres.
 
 

Information Structure of Comparisons of Inequality in Old English Riddles

This investigation focuses on information packaging in comparative structures of inequality in Old English riddles in The Exeter Book dating back to the 10th century. It is maintained that comparisons do not act as an economical way to introduce new information to the recipient, on the contrary the said structures serve the purpose of misleading, misdirecting, obscuring the riddllee and in doing so the riddler builds blocks which hinder the identification of the riddling entity. The latter though inanimate can take voices, selfpresenting through semantically diffuse personal deixis (known as prosopopoeia). Also the main canonical principle of information structure ‘old comes before new’ is violated in the said polipredicative sentences. The information packaging of comparisons of inequality in Old English riddles takes the form: ‘unknown to the recipient + new but known from the previous experience’. The riddler wraps the information so that it involves the recipient’s exophoric context, often culturally bound. Old Norse and Gothic comparisons are contrasted in order to shape the specificity of the Old English comparisons of inequality in riddling practice.

Word-Play in Old English “Riddle 47”

고대영시 수수께끼에서 사용되는 이중의 뜻은 표면적 의미인 문자적 해석과 내면적 의미를 지칭하기도 하는데 내면적 의미는 많은 경우 은유의 형태로 표출된다. 「수수께끼 47」에서 사용되는 일련의 어휘들- þystro, forswealg, stǽlgiest -은 문자적 의미와 은유적 의미를 지니게 되는데 여기에는 독자들을 끊임없이 혼란시키고자 하는 저자의 의도가 개입되어있다. 특히 마지막의 낯선 손님 stǽlgiest은 말(책)을 갉아먹는 좀 벌레와 동격의 위치에 있기 때문에 문자 그대로 좀 벌레로 볼 수 있으며 동시에 현자의 말(글)을 허락도 없이 마음대로 훔쳐 읽기 때문에 낯선 손님(도둑, 강탈자)으로 해석될 수 있게 된다. 수수께끼에서 요구되는 답은 행위의 주체를 규명하는 작업이다. 하지만 시작에서부터 단언적으로 언급되는 좀 벌레는 시의 흐름에 따라 ‘어둠 속의 도둑’으로 돌변하게 된다. 좀 벌레라는 주체가 도둑이라는 또 다른 의미를 내포하기 때문에 좀 벌레의 정체성에 대한 탐구는 좀 벌레의 차원을 넘어서 인격체인 사람을 포함할 수 있게 된다. 현명해지는 주체는 좀 벌레 아니면 인간인 독자가 되어야 하는데 벌레한테 현명해짐을 바라는 일은 없을 것이기 때문에 이제 행위의 주체는 좀 벌레에서 인간으로 탈바꿈하게 되는 것이다.「수수께끼 47」저자는 언어유희 기법을 통해 이러한 품성의 변화가 전혀 보이지 않는, 도덕적으로 무감각한 저속한 인간을 꼬집기 위해 본능적 욕구 충족에만 몰두하는 (좀)벌레를 등장시키고 있다. 좀 벌레는 수수께끼에서 기대되는 정답에 미치지 못하며 단지 독자의 관심을 다른 방향으로 유도하여 혼란을 가중시키기 위해 시인이 의도적으로 사용한 언어유희의 산물에 지나지 않는다. 요구되는 답은 좀 벌레가 아닌 지혜로운 말(글)을 읽지만 전혀 깨달음이 없는 어리석은 자가 될 것이다.Old English riddles use word-play as the main technique without exception, in which double meaning is often used. Through sophisticated lexical combinations the poet continues to confuse readers who seek to find answers to the riddle. In “Riddle 47”, this dual meaning is found mainly in the identity of a worm, which changes from ᚦeof (thief) to stǽlgiest (strange guest). Furthermore, this new identity, when linked to the moral content of the poem s ending, shows the worm is not just a worm but a person with cognitive abilities. This metaphorical interpretation is well illustrated in forswealg imbibe, swallow that informs the nature of the deeds taken by the actor. In answer to the riddle most scholars suggest that “a bookworm” is derived from literal interpretations. However, a sophisticated analysis of verbal play suggests that the required answer implies a foolish person who does not get wise through books bearing wisdom.

Books in Battle: The Violent Poetics of Misdirection in Old English Riddle 53

Abstract Riddle 53 is one of the only remaining Old English riddles that still lacks a satisfactory solution. Previous solutions have included ‘battering-ram’ and GEALGA (‘gallows’ or ‘cross’), but neither of these answers solves the whole text. This article offers the first solution to solve the riddle completely without ignoring contradictory evidence or difficult lines; my solution is BOC OND FEÐER (‘book and quill-pen’). In addition to a new solution, this article offers an alternative approach for decoding medieval enigmas, one that foregrounds the connections between texts that surface reading and surface deceptions can offer. In other words, I argue for the clustering of riddles based on similarities in what I call the ‘poetics of misdirection’—their slippery surface themes and the places to which they are obviously trying to lead the reader—as an organizing principle for reading across the corpus. This method traces specific histories of poetic deception and appropriately situates Riddle 53 in a sub-genre of classroom literatures (in both Latin and Old English) that use violence and martial language as a form of misdirection when describing objects found in the early English scriptorium. Further, by focusing on the physical (rather than intellectual) labour required in the material process of bookmaking, this article emphasizes an aspect of life with books in the early Middle Ages that modern readers have often glossed over.

The “dark Welsh”: Color, race, and alterity in the matter of medieval Wales

AbstractThis article examines how the medieval Welsh were racialized by Anglo‐Saxon and Anglo‐Norman sources and how the Welsh in turn developed a model of racial alterity. Literary sources, including the Old English riddles and the ethnographic work of Gerald of Wales, followed classical sources in their portrayals of the Welsh as being marked by “swarthiness,” or comparatively dark complexions. Rather than following this rhetorical practice, medieval Welsh literature reveals that the Welsh considered themselves pale‐complected, with darkness justifying biopolitical regulation of non‐European Christian peoples. While pseudo‐scientific racial discourse classifies the modern Welsh as white Caucasian, medieval texts negotiate difference between peoples with a range of methods and purposes, with racial difference being negotiated throughout various traditions in British literature.