Arts & Sciences
Riddle X. A Barnacle Goose
Translated by J. Duncan Spaeth, Old English Poetry (Princeton University Press, 1921) · From Exeter Book Riddles (selection)
I'm found under water, held fast by my mouth;
Swirl of the sea-tides goes sweeping beneath me.
Fathom-deep sunk under surges, I grew.
Bending roof of billows above me,
My body adrift on a floating beam.
You'll find me alive if you lift me and free me.
Dull is my coat as I come from the deep,
But straight I am decked with streamers of white,
Bright when the freshening breeze brings me from underseas,
Heaves me up, and urges me far
O'er the seal-bath salty. Say what I'm called.
Codex Note
One of roughly ninety riddles preserved in the Exeter Book; this is one of a further selection translated by J. Duncan Spaeth. The manuscript gives no solutions — titles here follow the translator's own guesses.
Cite this poem
MLA
Anonymous (Old English). “Riddle X. A Barnacle Goose.” Translated by J. Duncan Spaeth, Old English Poetry. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-old-english/30/.
Chicago
Anonymous (Old English). “Riddle X. A Barnacle Goose.” Translated by J. Duncan Spaeth, Old English Poetry. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-old-english/30/.
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