21 DECEMBER 1962, Page 20

Two Old English Riddles For Christmas

Translated by Kevin Crossley-Holland

Monster and man are both associated with the posing and guessing of riddles . . . for example, the Sphinx and the citizens of Thebes, Samson and Delilah, Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. To the Anglo-Saxon riddles were purely a source of amuse- ment, recited by the bard in the feasting-hall. Although there are four known collections of riddles by Anglo-Saxon authors, three of them are in Latta: only the riddles of the Exeter Book are in the ver- nacular. Their author is anonymous, but they were probably written by a poet from the North. of England early in the eighth century. His subi.ecta, include Christian belief, natural phenomena, animal and bird life and every corner of the social life of the time.