Riddles

1. Shield

• I think the answer is a shield. The writer says things like "wounded by steel," "sated with battle deeds," "Often I see war," "In fortress cities the forged swords strike," "Bite into me there," "For me the scars of sword wounds only sink deeper," these all brought to my mind the image of a shield.

2. Bookworm

• I found this riddle to be harder to understand than the previous one. However, I think the answer is a bookworm. The writer says things like "A moth devoured words," "That the worm devoured a certain man's song," "the thief in the darkness ate a glorious speech," "that he swallowed those words," all of these phrases have something to do with eating. A moth is mentioned in the beginning of the riddle; moths sometimes eat paper which relates the the writer's use of "words" in the first line. A bookworm can be defined as someone who really loves reading but it can also be defined as the larva of a certain type of beetle that feeds off of paper and glue in books. This description of a bookworm fits in perfectly with the riddle.

3. Tree

• This riddle was also a little hard to understand. I think the answer to this riddle is a tree. "My breast is inflated, my neck as well" could relate to the size of a tree in diameter and length. The writer mentions "eyes and ears and just one foot," old myths could have said that trees in the forest can see and hear things, "just one foot" could be referring to the stump of a tree. The part that talks about "two sides, with a pole in the middle," could be referencing a type of house. In the next line it also says "I dwell aloft over men" which also contributes to the previous sentence. "When he who stirs the forest moves me, I suffer distress" could be talking about when a human cuts down trees to make a house the trees suffer distress from being cut down. Trees "stand alone as rain-streams beat on me, sharp hail pounds, hoar-frost covers, and snow falls upon all." Through all these natural things a tree still stands high and says "nothing."

4. Iceberg

• This riddle was also kind of difficult to understand. At first I thought it was talking about a battleship with a canon, but then lines 9-12 did not make sense with that. I think that the answer to this riddle is an iceberg. An iceberg can look beautiful floating on the water, however it can also be very deadly. The edges of an iceberg are sharp and men who would travel in ships back then probably feared icebergs. Icebergs do not move fast but they are a bitter foe to anyone who faces them on the water. They can "break ship hulls in crushing destruction." Lines 9-12 I think relate to snow and how it is kind of the mother of an iceberg. Snow is "known to all nations as on earth she falls, standing beloved in everything by all lands."