What is the solution to the ancient Anglo-Saxon riddle?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the interpretation of an ancient Anglo-Saxon riddle, exploring various proposed solutions and translations. Participants engage in analyzing the riddle's language and potential meanings, considering both literal and metaphorical interpretations.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant claims to have solved the riddle and provides their translation, suggesting a connection between the imagery of youth and nature.
  • Another participant proposes that the riddle remains unsolved in terms of the author's intended answer, emphasizing the importance of context in interpreting riddles.
  • A different interpretation suggests that the answer could be "snow/ice," linking its characteristics to the descriptions in the riddle.
  • Another participant shares a translation from a book, which slightly differs from the first translation, indicating variations in interpretation.
  • A later reply offers a detailed interpretation identifying "driftwood on the beach" as the answer, breaking down the riddle's lines to support this claim.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing interpretations of the riddle, with no consensus on a single solution. Multiple competing views remain regarding the meaning of specific phrases and the overall answer.

Contextual Notes

Participants highlight the ambiguity in the translation of certain words, such as "singular," and the reliance on contextual understanding for riddles, which may affect interpretations.

BadBrain
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It's, supposedly, never been solved, but I believe I've solved it.

My solution has been PM'd to a moderator, so there's no question of cheating on my part.

Here's the riddle in the original:

Ic waes faemne geong, feaxhar cwene
ond aenlic rinc on ane tid;
fleah mid fuglum ond on flode swom,
deaf under ythe dead mid fiscum,
ond on foldan stop; haefde ferth cwicu.

***

And here's my translation:

I was a young lass, a frizzy-haired woman
and a singular man at the same time;
I flew with the birds and swam upon the flood,
Dove under the waves dead with the fish
And stooped upon the Earth I have left the living.

***

I eagerly await your proposed solutions. Yours may well prove superior to mine. You never know.
 
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I'd imagine it is "not solved" in the sense that the author's intended answer is unknown rather than that there is an absence of solutions which satisfy the rules for these kinds of riddles.

They usually depend on context as in; "In it went, out it went, and saved the lives of seven sons." with known answer: "a woodpecker". How you get from one to the other is context.

Not sure how "singular" should be interpreted in that line - you probably want to elaborate on that. But I think it's the snow/ice ... which can be fresh and pure as a young girl on the hills but frizzy-"haired" on the boughs or form icicles as a singular man all within the same moment. It has been in the air with the birds from whence it falls as snow and floating on the river as an ice-floe ... falls in the ocean and it melts (dies). The bitter cold that comes with it leaves the living stooped upon the Earth (as they huddle for warmth.)
 
BadBrain said:
...
Here's the riddle in the original:

Ic waes faemne geong, feaxhar cwene
ond aenlic rinc on ane tid;
fleah mid fuglum ond on flode swom,
deaf under ythe dead mid fiscum,
ond on foldan stop; haefde ferth cwicu.

***

And here's my translation:

I was a young lass, a frizzy-haired woman
and a singular man at the same time;
I flew with the birds and swam upon the flood,
Dove under the waves dead with the fish
And stooped upon the Earth I have left the living.

***
...

Answer = Driftwood on the beach (IMHO)

Detailed answer:
A tree that is now driftwood.
single man = trunk
branches = frizzyhair woman
new growth leaves = young woman
branches waving in the wind = flight
falling into the water = swim
becoming driftwood = dead with the fish
washing up on the shore
once was alive