The Epistola ad Acircium, sive Liber de septenario, et de metris, aenigmatibus ac pedum regulis ('letter to Acircius, or the book on sevens, and on metres, riddles, and the regulation of poetic feet') is a Latin treatise by the West-Saxon scholar Aldhelm (d. 709). It is dedicated to one Acircius, understood to be King Aldfrith of Northumbria (r. 685-704/5). It was a seminal text in the development of riddles as a literary form in medieval England.
Origins Aldhelm records that his riddles, which appear in this collection, were composed early in his career "as scholarly illustrations of the principles of Latin versification"; they may have been the work where he established his poetic skill in Latin.Andy Orchard, 'Enigmata', in The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England, ed. by Michael Lapidge, John Blair, Simon Keynes, and Donald Scragg, 2nd edn (Chichester: Wiley Blackwell, 2013), s.v. Aldhelm's chief source was Priscian's Institutiones Grammaticae.
Contents The treatise opens with a verse praefatio ("preface") addressing 'Acircius', which is remarkably contrived, incorporating both an acrostic and a telestich: the first letters of each line in the left-hand margin spell out a phrase which is paralleled by the same letters on the right-hand margin of the poem, forming a double acrostic. This 36-line message reads "Aldhelmus cecinit millenis versibus odas" ("Aldhelm composed a thousand lines in verse").
After the preface, the letter consists of three treatises: De septenario, treatise on the number seven in arithmology De metris, treatise on metre, including the Enigmata (see below). De pedum regulis, didactive treatise on metrical feet, such as iambs and spondees.
The Enigmata The Epistola is best known today for including one hundred hexametrical riddles, which Aldhelm included for purposes of illustration of metrical principles. Among the more famous are the riddle entitled Lorica, and the last and longest riddle, Creatura.
Aldhelm's model was the collection known as Symposii Aenigmata ("The Riddles of Symphosius"), and many of his riddles were directly inspired by Symphosius's. But overall, Aldhelm's collection is quite different in tone and purpose: as well as being an exposition of Latin poetic metres, diction, and techniques, it seems to be intended as an exploration of the wonders of God's creation.F. H. Whitman, 'Medieval Riddling: Factors Underlying Its Development', Neuphilologische Mitteilungen, 71 (1970), 177–85. The riddles generally become more metrically and linguistically complex as the collection proceeds. The first eight riddles deal with cosmology. Riddles 9-82 are more heterogeneous, covering a wide variety of animals, plants, artefacts, materials and phenomena, but can be seen to establish purposeful contrasts (for example between the light of a candle in Enigma 52 and that of the Great Bear in 53) or sequences (for example the animals of Enigmata 34-39: locust, screech-owl, midge, crab, pond-skater, lion). Riddles 81-99 seem all to concern monsters and wonders. Finally, the long hundredth riddle is "Creatura", the whole of Creation.Mercedes Salvador-Bello, 'Patterns of Compilation in Anglo-Latin Enigmata and the Evidence of A Source-Collection in Riddles 1-40 of the Exeter Book, Viator, 43 (2012), 339–374 (pp. 341-46). 10.1484/J.VIATOR.1.102554. The Latin enigmata of Aldhelm and his Anglo-Latin successor are presented in manuscripts with their solutions as their title, and seldom close with a challenge to the reader to guess their solution.Andy Orchard, 'Enigmata', in The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England, ed. by Michael Lapidge, John Blair, Simon Keynes, and Donald Scragg, 2nd edn (Chichester: Wiley Blackwell, 2013), s.v.
Example An example of an enigma by Aldhelm is his Elleborus, by which word Aldhelm understood not the hellebore, but woody nightshade.Cameron, M. L. 1985. ‘Aldhelm as naturalist: a re-examination of some of his Enigmata’, Peritia 4: 117–33 (pp. 131–33). It is number 98 in his collection:
Latin original Literal translation Literary translationOstriger en arvo vernabam frondibus hirtis Conquilio similis: sic cocci murice rubro Purpureus stillat sanguis de palmite guttis. Exuvias vitae mandenti tollere nolo Mitia nec penitus spoliabunt mente venena; Sed tamen insanum vexat dementia cordis Dum rotat in giro vecors vertigine membra.Ehwald, Rvdolfvs (ed.), Aldhelmi Opera, Monumenta Germanicae Historica, Auctorum Antiquissorum, 15, 3 vols (Berlin, 1919), i 144. Accessed from Purple-bearing, lo!, I was growing in a field/the countryside, with shaggy/rough/hairy foliage/stalks/branches similar to a shellfish/purple-fish/purple dye/purple cloth; thus with red murex/purple dye of my berry/red dye purple blood drips/trickles from the vine-shoots in drops. I do not wish to take away from the chewer the trappings of life, nor will my gentle juices/poisons/potions utterly rob him of his mind; but nevertheless a madness of the heart shakes/agitates/torments him, mad, while, deranged by giddiness, he whirls his limbs in a circle.Alaric Hall, 'Madness, Medication — and Self-Induced Hallucination? Elleborus (and Woody Nightshade) in Anglo-Saxon England, 700–900', Leeds Studies in English, n.s. 44 (2013), 43-69 (pp. 45-46). A purple flower, I grow in the fields with shaggy foliage. I am very similar to an oyster: thus with reddened dye of scarlet a purplish blood oozes by drops from my branches. I do not wish to snatch away the spoils of life from him who eats me, nor do my gentle poisons deprive him utterly of reason. Nevertheless a certain touch of insanity torments him as, mad with dizziness, he whirls his limbs in a circle.Lapidge, Michael and James L. Rosier (trans.), Aldhelm: The Poetic Works (Cambridge, 1985), p. 93.
List of riddles
The subjects of Aldhelm's riddles are as follows.Saint Aldhelm's "Riddles", ed. and trans. by A.M. Juster (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015), pp. 69-71. +numbertitle (Latin)title (English translation)1terraearth2ventuswind3nubescloud4naturanature5irisrainbow6lunamoon7fatumfate8PliadesPleiades9adamasdiamond10molosusmastiff11poalumbellows12bombixsilkworm13barbitaorgan14pavopeacock15salamandrasalamander16luligoflying fish17pernabivalve mollusc (pinna nobilis)18myrmicoleonant-lion19salissalt20apisbee21limafile22acalantidanightingale23trutinascales24dracontiadragon-stone25magnes ferriferlodestone26gallusrooster27coticulawhetstone28MinotaurusMinotaur29aquawater30elementumalphabet31ciconiastork32pugillareswriting tablets33loricaarmour34locustalocust35nycticoraxnight-raven36scnifesmidge37cancercrab38tippulapond strider39leolion40piperpepper41pulvilluspillow42strutioostrich43sanguisugaleech44ignisfire45fusumspindle46urticanettle47hirundoswallow48vertico polisphere of the heavens49lebescauldron50myrifyllonmilfoil (yarrow)51eliotropusheliotrope52candela53ArcturusArcturus54cocuma duplexdouble boiler55crismalchrismal56castorbeaver57aquilaeagle58vesper sidusevening star59pennapen60monocerusunicorn61pugiodagger62famfalucabubble63corbusraven64columbadove65muricepsmouser66molamill67cribellussieve68salpixtrumpet69taxusyew70tortellaloaf of bread71piscisfish72colosuscolossus73fonsspring74fundibalumsling75crabrohornet76melariusapple tree77ficulneafig tree78cupa vinariawine cask79sol et lunasun and moon80calix vitreusglass cup81Lucifermorning star82mustelaweasel83iuvencussteer84scrofa praegnanspregnant sow85caecus natusman born blind86ariesram87clipeusshield88basiliscusserpent89arca librariabookcase90puerpera geminas enixawoman bearing twins91palmapalm92farus editissimatall lighthouse93scintillaspark94ebulusdwarf elder95ScillaScylla96elefanselephant97noxnight98elleborushellebore99camelluscamel100CreaturaCreation
Influence Aldhelm's riddles were almost certainly the key inspiration for the forty riddles of Tatwine, an early eighth-century Mercian priest and Archbishop of Canterbury, along with the probably slightly later riddles of Eusebius and of Boniface. Two appear in Old English translation in the tenth-century Old English Exeter Book riddles, and Aldhelm's riddles in general may have been an inspiration for that collection.Andy Orchard, "Enigma Variations: The Anglo-Saxon Riddle-Tradition," in Latin Learning and English Lore: Studies in Anglo-Saxon Literature for Michael Lapidge, ed. by Andy Orchard and Katherine O’Brien O’Keeffe, 2 vols (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005), I 284-304.
Editions and translations Ehwald, Rudolf (ed.). Aldhelmi Opera. MGH Scriptores. Auctores antiquissimi 15. Berlin, 1919. Scans available from the Digital MGH. Aldhelm: The Prose Works. Trans. Michael Lapidge and Michael Herren. D. S. Brewer, 1979. . Aldhelm: The Poetic Works. Trans. Michael Lapidge and James L. Rosier. Boydell & Brewer, 1984. . The Enigmata only The Riddles of Aldhelm. Text and translation by James Hall Pittman. Yale University Press, 1925. Through a Gloss Darkly: Aldhelm’s Riddles in the British Library ms Royal 12.C.xxiii, ed. and trans. by Nancy Porter Stork, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Studies and Texts, 98 (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1990). (A digital facsimile of the manuscript edited in this book is available here.) Saint Aldhelm's Riddles Translated by A. M. Juster, University of Toronto Press, 2015, .
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