Anglo-Saxon Riddles of the Exeter Book/Annotated/75

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Anglo-Saxon Riddles of the Exeter Book (1963)
translated by Paull Franklin Baum
1190424Anglo-Saxon Riddles of the Exeter Book1963Paull Franklin Baum

75 (k-d 44)


Splendidly it hangs     by a man’s thigh,
under the master’s cloak.     In front is a hole.
It is stiff and hard;     it has a goodly place.
When the young man     his own garment
lifts over his knee,     he wishes to visit
with the head of what hangs     the familiar hole
he had often filled     with its equal length.
Wrætlic hongað     bi weres þeo
frean under sceate     foran is þyrel
bið stiþ heard     stede hafað godne ·
þonne se esne     his agen hrægl
ofer cneo hefeð     wile þæt cuþe hol
mid his hangellan     heafde gretan
þæt he efe lang ær     oft gefylde

This is an inferior piece, meant only for its impropriety. The innocent answer is Key. Compare 33 (k-d 89), which is Key pure et simple.