In Enigmate: The History of a Riddle, 400-1500 (Dublin Studies in Medieval and Renaissance)

This is a study of a single riddle as it is transmitted, translated, and transformed over more than a thousand years. Beginning with the influential late-antique riddle text Aenigmata Symphosii , In enigmate charts an arc through the extraordinary popularity of riddles in Anglo-Saxon England, their decline as a learned literary form after the Norman conquest, their emergence in early modern ballads, and beyond. At the center of this study is the Creation riddle, perhaps the best-known riddle in early England. Versions of it survive in both popular and elite literature, and because it is constructed around an enigmatic description of Creation, it reveals changing cosmological and cosmographical conceptions as it is retold and reimagined. More interesting, perhaps, are popular versions of the riddle, which offer a glimpse of how Creation was imagined outside the scholarly class. Together, the iterations of this riddle represent a unique opportunity to study the imaginary geography of medieval society as it changed over time. "This book is a study of a single riddle as it is transmitted, translated and transformed over more than a thousand years. Beginning with the influential late antique riddle text Aenigmata Symphosii, In Enigmate charts an arc through the extraordinary popularity of riddles in Anglo-Saxon England, their decline as a learned literary form after the Norman conquest, their emergence in early modern ballads and beyond. At the centre of this study is the creation riddle, perhaps the best-known riddle in early England. Versions of it survive in both popular and elite literature, and because it is constructed around an enigmatic description of creation, it reveals changing cosmological and cosmographical conceptions as it is retold and reimagined. Even those versions composed by theologians often display a tension between the author's theological understandings (as attested in 'scholarly' works) and what they seem to have actually imagined. More interesting, perhaps, are popular versions of the riddle, which offer a glimpse of how creation was imagined outside the scholarly class. Together, the iterations of this riddle represent a unique opportunity to study the imaginary geography of medieval society as it changed over time."--Publisher's website Cover 1 Dublin Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature 3 Title page 4 Copyright page 5 Table of contents 6 Acknowledgments 7 Preface 8 A note on the texts 10 Introduction 12 1. Riddling in the ancient world 17 2. Symphosius’ encyclopaedia of the world in riddles 39 3. De Creatura: Aldhelm’s invention of the creation riddle 72 4. The Exeter Book: three vernacular versions of the creation riddle 93 5. Riddles wisely expounded: popular post-Norman conquest versionsof the creation riddle 118 Conclusion 138 Appendix A: Translation and commentary of the Symphosii Scholastici Aenigmata 143 Appendix B: Taxonomies in Symphosius’ Symphosii Scholastici Aenigmata 180 Appendix C: From the Old Hebrew to King James: translating ‘riddle’ 183 Bibliography 187 Index 200