Unriddling the Exeter Riddles

Patrick J. Murphy is Assistant Professor of English at Miami University.

• ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Unriddling the Riddles2. A Literal Reading of Riddle 573. Transformation and Textual Culture4. Riddle 17 as Samson’s Lion5. Innuendo and Oral Tradition6. The Roots of Riddle 25AfterwordBibliographyIndex

“[Unriddling the Exeter Riddles] is a stimulating and engaging study that is sure to be invaluable in the study of the enigmatic Exeter riddles. It provides both an excellent foundation for undergraduates (and non-specialists in the Old English) to study these murky texts, and an important (if rousing) contribution to scholarly analysis of them in situating them within the riddling tradition. Murphy’s unriddling of the Exeter riddles sheds some light on these dark texts by unraveling the intricate relationship between their form and meaning and will make a significant impact on how scholars and students alike understand their form and genre.”—Eric Lacey English Studies