Exeter Book

The Exeter Book is a collection of Anglo-Saxon poetry, including a number of riddles. The manuscript itself has been paleographically dated to the 10th Century, though it is thought to have been copied from a collection compiled as early as the 8th Century.

The Riddles

There are 95 riddles contained in The Exeter Book, although some of these are incomplete, and others are yet to be solved.

Although there are several riddles translated directly from popular versions in Latin, the riddles seem to be mainly of Anglo-Saxon origin. They can be divided into three classes of riddles: Religious, Obscene and Mudane. The obscene riddles seem to describe something distasteful, but are in fact innocent. The mundane riddles may describe natural, domestic or military objects.