Riddle Hero: Play and Poetry in the Exeter Book Riddles

Autor/in	Higl, Andrew
Titel	Riddle Hero: Play and Poetry in the Exeter Book Riddles
Quelle	In: American Journal of Play, 9 (2017) 3, S.374-394 (21 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1938-0399
Schlagwörter	Play; Poetry; Games; Puzzles; Books; Old English; Translation + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Spiel; Lyrik; Poesie; Game; Spiele; Legespiel; Book; Buch; Monographie; Monografie; Altenglisch
Abstract	The author discusses the Exeter Book riddles, some of the earliest poems in English, specifically Old English, as perfect examples of how play and poetry intersect. Their playfulness, he claims, is most apparent in the original manuscript, but notes that few modern readers read Old English. The orthography of the manuscript also helps to make the play of the poems more obscure. Moreover, contemporary readers nearly always encounter the riddles in modern editions and with modern English translations, and editors and translators often provide the riddles with clear divisions and interpretive notes. They sometimes offer their own solutions to the riddles (although the actual manuscript provides no explanation for them). All of which leads to a different and less playful experience for readers of the riddles. The author explores what it means to play the riddles in their original context, making the individual reader the riddle hero ("haeleþ") whom the text calls on to construct playful worlds of imagination and language. He examines how the Old English riddles demand to be played and how they oscillate playfully between the mundane, the sacred, and the obscene. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01