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

Child Ballad The Child Ballads are List of the Child Ballads, 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 ...

1 and Roud 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 ...

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 (, ; "swollen foot") was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby bringing disaster to his city and family. ...

and Samson 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''. There are strong parallels with ballads in other languages, with many German, and Scottish and Irish 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 (Child 2).

''Inter diabolus et virgo'', "between the devil and the maiden" (c. 1450)

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 (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

for wisdom, and answers the riddles correctly.

First two verses

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). 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: 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 (recorded by

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Kurdish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name ** List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' * ...

and Elizabeth Lomax in 1941) Nancy Philley of Fayetteville,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

(1963) and Alfreda Peel of Salem,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

(1932). Jeff Wesley of Whittlebury,

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

, 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'' 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 (novel), Tam Lin'', based on the Child Ballads, Child Ballad of the Tam Lin, same name, in which the Scott ...

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