"Riddles Wisely Expounded" is a traditional English song, dating at least to 1450. It is

Child Ballad The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child's studies of them were published as '' ...

1 and

Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud (born 1949), a former librarian in the London ...

161, and exists in several variants. The first known tune was attached to it in 1719. The title "Riddles Wisely Expounded" was given by

Francis James Child Francis James Child (February 1, 1825 – September 11, 1896) was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of English and Scottish ballads now known as the Child Ballads. Child was Boylston professor of r ...

and seems derived from the seventeenth century broadside version "A Noble Riddle Wisely Expounded".

Origins and Context

The motif of riddling in folklore is very ancient, the stories of

Oedipus Oedipus (, ; grc-gre, Οἰδίπους "swollen foot") was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus accidentally fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby ...

and

Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...

giving two early examples. The particular form used here matches the folktale Aarne-Thompson type 875 ''The Clever Girl'' where a woman wins a husband by her clever answers to riddles. Other tales of this type include '' What Is the Fastest Thing in the World?'' and ''

The Wise Little Girl ''The Wise Little Girl'' (russian: Мудрая дева) is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in ''Narodnye russkie skazki''. This type of tale is the most common European tales to deal with witty exchanges.Stith Thompson, '' ...

''. There are strong parallels with ballads in other languages, with many

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, and Scottish and

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Gaelic versions known to exist. There is also significant crossover with other popular English language ballads, such as The Two Sisters (Child 10) and The False Knight on the Road (Child 3) and

The Elfin Knight "The Elfin Knight" () is a traditional Scottish folk ballad of which there are many versions, all dealing with supernatural occurrences, and the commission to perform impossible tasks. The ballad has been collected in different parts of England, ...

(Child 2).

''Inter diabolus et virgo'', "between the devil and the maiden" (c1450)

In the earliest surviving version of the song, the "foul fiend" proposes to abduct a maiden unless she can answer a series of riddles. The woman prays to

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

for wisdom, and answers the riddles correctly.

First two verses

Wol ye here a wonder thynge (''"Will you hear a wondrous story,'') Betwyxt a mayd and the fovle fende? (''Between a maid and the foul fiend (Devil)?''") Thys spake the fend to the mayd: (''Thus spoke the fiend (Devil) to the maid:'') 'Beleue on me, mayd, to day. (''"Believe on me, maid, today.''")

Some riddles

'What ys hyer than ys hetre? ("''What is higher than is the tree?'') What ys dypper than ys the see? (''What is deeper than is the sea?''") 'What ys scharpper than ys the thorne? ("''What is sharper than is the thorn?'') What ys loder than ys the horne? (''What is louder than is the horn?''") 'What slongger than ys the way? ("''What is longer(broader) than is the way?'') What is rader than ys the day? (''What is redder than is the day?'')

Some answers

'Hewene ys heyer than ys the tre, ("''Heaven is higher than is the tree'') Helle ys dypper than ys the see. (''Hell is deeper than is the sea''.) 'Hongyr ys scharpper than sthe thorne, ("''Hunger is sharper than is the thorn,'') Thonder ys lodder than ys the horne. (''Thunder is louder than is the horn''.) 'Loukynge ys longer than ys the way, (''Looking is longer(broader) than is the way,'') Syn ys rader than ys the day. ''(Sin is redder than is the day''.)

"A Noble Riddle Wisely Expounded"

In a seventeenth century version entitled "A Noble Riddle Wisely Expounded", the words of each verse are interspersed with a chorus phrase "lay the bent to the bonny broom". A. L. Lloyd euphemistically describes this as a phrase of "physiological significance", explaining that the word "bent" means a horn. "Broom" most likely refers to the flowering shrub. This version is very similar to The Two Sisters (Child 10).

'If thou canst answer me questions three, Lay the bent to the bonny broom This very day will I marry thee.' Fa la la la, fa la la la ra re

In later versions, including this one, a knight puts a woman to test before he marries her (sometimes after seducing her); the woman knows the answers, and wins the marriage. In other versions, a devil disguised as a knight tries to carry the woman off. The riddles vary, but typical ones include: *What is longer than the way? -- love *What is deeper than the sea? -- hell *What is louder than the horn? -- thunder *What is sharper than a thorn? -- hunger *What is whiter than milk? -- snow *What is softer than silk? -- down *What is worse than woman was? -- the devil

Recent versions and traditional recordings

The most commonly found traditional version in recent times, usually entitled "Ninety-nine and ninety", begins roughly as follows:

Now you must answer my questions nine Sing ninety-nine and ninety, Or you aren't God's you are one of mine And who is the weaver's bonny. What is whiter than milk? Sing ninety-nine and ninety; And what is softer than silk? And who is the weaver's bonny.

Traditional recordings of this version have been made several times in the twentieth century. American recordings include those performed by the Appalachian traditional singer

Texas Gladden Texas Anna Gladden (' Smith, March 14, 1895 – May 23, 1966)

(recorded by

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and Elizabeth Lomax in 1941) Nancy Philley of Fayetteville,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

(1963) and Alfreda Peel of Salem,

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(1932). Jeff Wesley of

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, England (1988) sang a very similar version, suggesting that this popular version came from England relatively recently.

Popular versions

Recordings

Modern literary retellings include ''

Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary ''Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary'' is a 1998 fantasy novel by Pamela Dean. It is published by Tor Books, and based on Dean's 1989 short story of the same name, which appeared in the anthology ''Things That Go Bump in the Night'' edited by Jane Yol ...

'' by

Pamela Dean Pamela Collins Dean Dyer-Bennet (born 1953), better known as Pamela Dean, is an American fantasy author whose best-known book is ''Tam Lin'', based on the Child Ballad of the same name, in which the Scottish fairy story is set on a midwestern c ...

and "A Diorama of the Infernal Regions, or the Devil's Ninth Question," by Andy Duncan.

References

External links

''Riddles Wisely Expounded''
with 18th- and 19th-century melodies, and text to "Inter diabolus et virgo" {{Authority control Child Ballads Traditional music