Exeter Book Riddle 25 (according to the numbering of the Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records)[1] is one of the Old English riddles found in the later tenth-century Exeter Book. Suggested solutions have included Hemp, Leek, Onion, Rosehip, Mustard and Phallus, but the consensus is that the solution is Onion.[2][3]

Text and translation

As edited by Krapp and Dobbie and translated by Megan Cavell, the riddle reads:[4][1]: 193 

Interpretation

The riddle is noted for its double entendre, since to many readers the obvious solution to the riddle is 'penis'. It accordingly provides important evidence for attitudes to gender and sexuality in early medieval England.[2]

Editions

Recordings

References

  1. ^ a b George Philip Krapp and Elliott Van Kirk Dobbie (eds), The Exeter Book, The Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records, 3 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1936), http://ota.ox.ac.uk/desc/3009 Archived 2018-12-06 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ^ a b Megan Cavell, 'Commentary for Riddle 25', The Riddle Ages (3 July 2014).
  3. ^ Fry, Donald K. “Exeter Book Riddle Solutions.” Old English Newsletter, vol. 15, issue 1 (1981), 22-33 (p. 23).
  4. ^ 'Riddle 25 (or 23)', trans. by Megan Cavell, The Riddle Ages (26 June 2014).
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