The Lorsch riddles, also known as the ''Aenigmata Anglica'', are a collection of twelve
hexametrical, early medieval Latin
riddles
A riddle is a statement, question or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: ''enigmas'', which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that requ ...
that were anonymously written in the ninth century.
The absence of line breaks separating individual verses (among other things) show that they are possibly of English origin. The poems were heavily influenced by
Aldhelm's ''Enigmata.'' None of the poems have a written solution, which has caused much debate over the answers to some of them; the solutions as given in Glore's edition are: 1. de homine/person; 2. de anima/soul; 3. de aqua/water; 4. de glacie/ice; 5. de cupa uinaria/wine-cup; 6. de niue/snow; 7. de castanea/chestnut; 8. de fetu/foetus; 9. de penna/feather; 10. de luminari/eternal light; 11. de tauro/bull; 12. de atramento/ink.
The riddles are preserved in only one manuscript (Vatican
Pal. Lat. 1753. The manuscript was written c. 800 in the Carolingian scriptorium of
Lorsch Abbey
Lorsch Abbey, otherwise the Imperial Abbey of Lorsch (german: Reichsabtei Lorsch; la, Laureshamense Monasterium or ''Laurissa''), is a former Imperial abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about east of Worms. It was one of the most renowned monasteries ...
, where it was rediscovered in 1753. It contains among a variety of grammatical texts the ''Aenigmata'' of
Symphosius
Symphosius (sometimes, in older scholarship and less properly, Symposius) was the author of the ''Aenigmata'', an influential collection of 100 Latin riddles, probably from the late antique period. They have been transmitted along with their soluti ...
, the ''Enigmata'' of
Aldhelm and a variety of prose and metrical texts by
Boniface
Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations o ...
.
Editions
* 'Aenigmata "lavreshamensia"
nigmata "anglica", ed. by Fr. Glorie, trans. by Karl J. Minst, in ''Tatuini omnia opera, Variae collectiones aenigmatum merovingicae aetatis, Anonymus de dubiis nominibus'', Corpus christianorum: series latina, 133-133a, 2 vols (Turnholt: Brepols, 1968)
I345–58
ncluding German translation
The Lorsch riddles have also been edited twice by
Ernst Dümmler
Ernst Ludwig Dümmler (2 January 183011 September 1902) was a German historian.
Biography
Ernst Ludwig was born in Berlin, the son of (1777–1846), a Berlin bookseller. He studied law, classical philology and history, among other things, at ...
--once in 1879 and again in 1881.
See also
*
Anglo-Saxon riddles
Anglo-Saxon riddles are a significant genre of Anglo-Saxon literature. The riddle was a major, prestigious literary form in early medieval England, and riddles were written both in Latin and Old English verse. The pre-eminent composer of Latin rid ...
References
Riddles
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