Dissertation

A contextual study of the \Exeter Book\ riddles

Igarashi, Michelle Michie Yoshimori

1999

Overview

Often the Old English riddles of the Exeter Book are discussed in isolation or in pairs or groups. Seldom are the enigmata read in conjunction with other Old English poems or placed within the prevalent literary movements of the period. Through such contextualization, however, one can develop a better understanding of the entire corpus of Anglo-Saxon poetry as well as the literary world within these texts. This dissertation undertakes such a study. Each chapter discusses the riddles within a different context. Chapter 1 explores the foundation of these poems through an investigation of the intersections between the Old English riddles and their Latin sources and analogues. Chapter 2 places the enigmata in their cultural contexts, as both Volksrätsel and Kunstätsel. Chapter 3 looks at the riddles in fight of poems that express the heroic ideal. And chapter 4 reads the riddles in comparison to elegies, a genre that expresses the plight of those who fall victim to the cruel realities of the Anglo-Saxon world.

• Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
• Subject: Anon., 600-1100 (The Exeter Book) / British & Irish literature / British and Irish literature / Cynewulf (700?-800?) / Literature / Medieval literature / Middle Ages
• ISBN: 0599436050, 9780599436053