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Anglo-Saxon Riddles of the Exeter Book/Annotated/61

Anglo-Saxon Riddles of the Exeter Book (1963)
translated by Paull Franklin Baum
1190285Anglo-Saxon Riddles of the Exeter Book1963Paull Franklin Baum

61 (k-d 86)

A creature came     where many men
sat at council     with wise hearts.
It had one eye     and its ears were two;
it had two feet     and twelve hundred heads,
a back and a belly     and two hands,
arms and shoulders,     one neck,
and two sides.     Say what I’m called.
Wiht cwom gongan     þær weras sæton
monige on mæðle     mode snottre
hæfde an eage     ⁊ earan twa ·
⁊ ii fet     xii hund heafda ·
hryc ⁊ wombe     ⁊ honda twa
earmas ⁊ eaxle     anne sweoran
⁊ sidan twa     saga hwæt ic hatte

A One-Eyed Garlic Seller; or so it would seem from a hint in Symphosius 94.