The Exeter Book Riddles [Paperback]

Kevin Crossley-Holland (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2, 2009

The ninety-six Anglo-Saxon riddles in the eleventh-century Exeter Book are poems of great charm, zest, and subtlety. Ranging from natural phenomena (such as icebergs and storms at sea) to animal and bird life, from the Christian concept of the creation to prosaic domestic objects (such as a rake and a pair of bellows), and from weaponry to the peaceful pursuits of music and writing, they are full of sharp observation, earthy humor and, above all, a sense of wonder. The main text of this volume contains Kevin Crossley-Holland's newly-revised translations of the seventy-five of these fascinating and discursive riddles that are fully extant, while a further sixteen are translated in the notes.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Kevin Crossley-Holland's deep interest in the early literature of north-west Europe is reflected in much of his writing. In addition to his Selected Poems and Moored Man, a cycle of North Norfolk poems with watercolours and etchings by Norman Ackroyd, he is the author of The Penguin Book of Norse Myths, while his anthology The Anglo-Saxon World contains his well-known translations of Beowulf and many of the shorter poems. His celebrated books for children, including the Arthur trilogy, Gatty's Tale and a retelling of Beowulf illustrated by Charles Keeping, have been translated into well over twenty languages. With the poet Lawrence Sail, Crossley-Holland has edited an colection of modern metaphorical riddles, The New Exeter Book of Riddles, and Light Unlocked, an anthology of Christmas Card poems. He is also the co-author with Ivan Cutting of The Wuffings, a play about Anglo-Saxon East Anglia, and the librettist for Nicola LeFanu of two operas based on medieval legends, The Green Children and The Wildman. Kevin Crossley-Holland is an Honorary Fellow of St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, patron of the Society for Storytelling and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Product Details

• Paperback: 134 pages
• Publisher: Enitharmon Pr; New Ed edition (March 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 190463446X
• ISBN-13: 978-1904634461
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,100,888 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, September 12, 2001

By 

Catherine Stripe Lester "catlest" (Grayling, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Exeter Book Riddles: Revised Edition (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

I was enthralled with this book. I had never encountered Anglo-Saxon riddles before, and they're a delight - not your stupid Elephant riddles, but elegant poems, each one describing something in a teasing way.
The book has the riddle on one page and the explanation on the next, so when I was reading them I used to make sure I didn't look ahead until I'd solved it. Sometimes I got it, sometimes I didn't. But it's more fun than a crossword puzzle. (And sometimes those ol' Anglo Saxons surprise you - wait till you get to the one about "I grow upright in a bed... hairs underneath..." I won't spoil it by telling you the answer!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Exeter Book, October 19, 2005

By 

Nemo - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Exeter Book Riddles: Revised Edition (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Great book, but I just wanted to clear up a few things that most people do not know. The Exeter Books riddles were never published with the answers. Thus, the answers in this book are not necessarily what the Anglo-Saxons intended, but just accepted answers. And depending on who in the scholarly world you talk to, the numbers of riddles, and the translation of those riddles is quite different.