Arts & Sciences

Riddle 13

by Anonymous (Old English) c. 7th–11th century

Translated by Benjamin Thorpe (1842) · From Exeter Book Riddles (selection)

Arts & Sciences

I saw treading the turf
(ten they were in all)
six brethren,
and their sisters with them ;
they had a living soul,
the skins hung,
manifest and visible,
on the room's wall,
of every one ;
not to any of them was it the worse,
nor his side the sorer,
though they so must,
of garment bereft,
by the Guardian of the skies'
powers awaken'd,
with their mouths tear
the variegated leaves.
Clothing is renew'd
for those who, already come forth,
left their ornaments
to lie in their track,
departing the land to tread.

✦ ✦ ✦

Thorpe's Riddle XIV (first series, pp. 380–441, in his Codex Exoniensis, 1842); ASPR Riddle 13.

MLA

Anonymous (Old English). “Riddle 13.” Translated by Benjamin Thorpe. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-old-english/264/.

Chicago

Anonymous (Old English). “Riddle 13.” Translated by Benjamin Thorpe. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-old-english/264/.

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