Old English Enigmatic Poems and the Play of the Texts (Studies in the Early Middle Ages)

Old English Enigmatic Poems and the Play of the Texts consists of a close study of a number of verse texts, most of which are preserved in the Exeter Book of Old English poetry. All of these texts are enigmatic. Some are riddles; others are riddle-like in their manner of simultaneously giving and withholding information. A number of them feature the literary use of runes. The author approaches these poems as microcosms of the art of Old English poetry in general, which (particularly in its more lyrical forms) relies on its audience's ability to decipher metaphorical language and to fill out many details that remain unexpressed. The author's chief claim is that Old English poetry is a good deal more playful than is often acknowledged, so that the art of interpreting it can require a kind of 'game strategy' whereby riddling authors match their wits against adventurous readers. New readings of a number of particular poems and passages are offered; the whole collection of Exeter Book riddles is given a set of answers posed in the language of the riddler; and some possible instances of 'creative runography' are explored. The book combines the methods of rigorous philology and imaginative literary analysis.