Arts & Sciences
Riddle II. A Storm
Translated by Cosette Faust Newton & Stith Thompson (1918) · From Exeter Book Riddles (selection)
At times I travel in tracks undreamed of,
In vasty wave-depths to visit the earth,
The floor of the ocean. Fierce is the sea
. . . . . . . the foam rolls high;
The whale-pool roars and rages loudly;
The streams beat the shores, and they sling at times
Great stones and sand on the steep cliffs,
With weeds and waves, while wildly striving
Under the burden of billows on the bottom of ocean
The sea-ground I shake. My shield of waters
I leave not ere he lets me who leads me always
In all my travels. Tell me, wise man,
Who was it that drew me from the depth of the ocean
When the streams again became still and quiet,
Who before had forced me in fury to rage?
Codex Note
One of roughly ninety riddles preserved in the Exeter Book; this is one of a small selection translated by Faust & Thompson. The manuscript gives no solutions — titles here follow the translators' own guesses.
Cite this poem
MLA
Anonymous (Old English). “Riddle II. A Storm.” Translated by Cosette Faust Newton and Stith Thompson. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-old-english/18/.
Chicago
Anonymous (Old English). “Riddle II. A Storm.” Translated by Cosette Faust Newton and Stith Thompson. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-old-english/18/.
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