The Creation Riddles is the name given to three riddles from
Exeter Book(Krapp and Dobbie (
KD)
40,
66, and 94) first identified as a group by Frederick Tupper (238). Characterised by their striking, elemental, cosmological imagery, these riddles are unified by the fact that they (apparently) have the same solution, “creation”. They also share common imagery and even, as Tupper notes, common syntax and grammatical constructions. The longest of these three,
Riddle 40, is a translation of “De Creatura”, the grand, final riddle in Aldhelm’s
Enigmata, while Riddles 66 and 94 appear to be reworkings.
Repeated solutions are relatively common in the Exeter Book (for example, KD 25 and 65both of which describe an onion, or KD 26 and 67, “bible”, or KD 12, 38, 72, “ox”) and in
475 words
Citation: Sebo, Erin. "The Creation Riddles of the Exeter Book". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 January 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=28516, accessed 25 April 2024.]
