The compound 'wundenlocc' (locks that have been wound) is applied to 'hair' four times across two Old English poems: once in Riddle if- (onion) and three times in Judith. In all of these instances, its meaning has been subject to debate because it is not clear whether ivunden indicates hair that has been braided or hair that is curly. Several scholars prefer the sense 'braided', including Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller,3 J. R. Clark Hall,4 Elinor Teele,5 and Patrick Murphy.6 Others prefer the sense 'curly-haired', including Craig Williamson,7 S. A. J. Bradley,8 John P. Hermann,9 and Susan Kim.10 Some, as is the case with Mark S. Griffith11 and F. Tupper,12 offer both options.13 Given the context of these instances as well as that of similar compounds and collocations, which I shall outline below, in my view the 'curly hair' reading appears to be the sounder of the two.The first occurrence, from the famously double-entendre onion riddle, reads:FeleJ} sonamines gemotes, seo14 f)e mec nearwao,wif wundenlocc. (lines 9a- 1 ia)(Immediately she feels my might, she who confines me, the wundenlocc woman.)This poem refers to the beautiful daughter of a 'ceorl' (line 6b) (freeman) who either places an onion in her food-bag, according to the accepted solution, or forces herself upon an unwilling penis, according to the double-entendre solution. The descriptor, 'wundenlocc', is not directly relevant to the riddlesubject,15 although, alliterating with both line 1 i's 'wif' (woman) and 'wiet' (wet), it does help point to both the domestic and double-entendre contexts of the onion/penis.Past scholarship on this riddle has generally pointed to Judith for clarification of the term in question. Hence, the commentary in Tupper's edition argues that '[c]urled or braided locks were regarded by the Anglo-Saxons as an accessory of beauty', linking it to the 'twisted hairs of the fair Judith'.16 However, more recently, scholars have begun to look at other contexts. Teele points out that in the riddles, '[c]ompounds with locc are always sexual', directing readers not only to this text, but also to Riddle 42 (cock and hen), where the frisky hen is liwitloc' (line 3b) (fair-haired).17 It is perhaps unfair to argue that just because -locc appears in two double-entendre riddles, it must in itself denote sexuality. The riddles in general are naturally given to describing appearances, containing in particular more body-terms than any other Old English poetry.18 Thus, visible or free-flowing locks are perhaps more appropriately to be 'considered [as] an accessory of great beauty'.19Following this, the somewhat higher-brow Judith refers to the heroine using the term in two particularly martial passages:Genam oa wundenloccscyppendes masgo scearpne mece,scurum heardne, ond of sceaoe abroedswioran folme. (lines 77b-8oa)(Then the wundenlocc one, the creator's maiden, took a sharp sword, hard from storms of battle, and drew it from the sheath with her right hand.)andSloh oa wundenloccJxme feondsceaoan fagum mece,hetejxmcolne. (lines 103b-105a)(Then the wundenlocc one struck the fiendish foe, the hateful one, with a gleaming sword.)The third reference, this time to the Hebrew nation, similarly involves references to swords and armour: [the people],wlanc, wundenlocc, (w)a;gon ond loeddonto oasre beorhtan byrig, Bethuliam,helmas ond hupseax, hare byrnan,guosceorp gumena golde gefrastewod,mare madma J^onne mon oenigasecgan moege searo^oncelra. (lines 325-30)(proud, wundenlocc, carried and led to that bright city, Bethulia, helmets and shortswords, grey corselets, the battle equipment of men adorned with gold, more treasure than anyone, however cunning, could recount.)The alliterative context of each of these instances is different: 'wundenlocc' alliterates with 'womfull' (sinful) and 'onwoce' (awoke) in line 77, with 'wel' (well) and 'gewealdan' (control) in line 103, and with 'wlanc' (proud) and 'wagon' (carried) in line 325. …