Arts & Sciences

Riddle 87

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

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

Arts & Sciences

I saw a wonderful creature,
it had a large belly,
violently press'd :
a man follow'd,
strong of might and fam'd of hand.
Great seem'd to me
the goodly man,
grasp'd on it instantly,
with heaven's tooth,
blew in its eye :
it bark'd,
thank'd willingly ;
it would, nath'less

✦ ✦ ✦

Thorpe's Riddle XXIV (third series, pp. 479–500, in his Codex Exoniensis, 1842); ASPR Riddle 87.

MLA

Anonymous (Old English). “Riddle 87.” Translated by Benjamin Thorpe. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-old-english/296/.

Chicago

Anonymous (Old English). “Riddle 87.” Translated by Benjamin Thorpe. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-old-english/296/.

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