The College of William and Mary

Rdelsa in re deorcnesse:
Riddles from The Hobbit translated into Old English
Jonathan Coate
Old English 314
Professor Hagedorn
April !" #14
Introduction
My primary intention $ith these translations $as to sho$%ase ho$ %losely Tol&ien's riddles
from The Hobbit resem(le the Anglo)*a+on riddles of the Exeter Book. While , too& some efforts to
em-late the synta+ and .o%a(-lary $hi%h $as -sed in the E+eter riddles, , mainly tried to gi.e as literal
of a translation as possi(le" operating -nder the s-spi%ion that Tol&ien had spe%ifi%ally shaped his
riddles to the Anglo)sa+on riddle forms and traditions/ , fo-nd that the final prod-%t really did resem(le
the style and str-%t-re of the E+eter riddles0 this sho-ld not (e seen as -se of e+%essi.e interpretation or
%reati.ity on my end" (-t a proof of ho$ Tol&ien $as deeply em(edded into the Anglo)sa+on tradition
$hen he $rote these delightf-l riddles/
, also dire%tly 1-oted the ans$ers from the te+t of The Hobbit. This allo$ed me to sho$%ase the
-ni1-e %hara%ter .oi%es" parti%-larly 2oll-m's/ 2oll-m spea&s in modern english $ith hissing repitition
and st-nted synta+/ , tried to gi.e his .o%a(-lary as m-%h of this 1-ality as possi(le3 noti%e the
repitition of h and so-nds. His tenden%y to red-ntantly pl-rali4e has (een appro+imated $ith repeated
%ase endings/
I. Gollum:
What has roots as no(ody sees" H$5t h5f6 $yrt)tr-man s$a nan mote seo
1
"
,s taller than trees" lengra 6onne (eamas (7on"
8p" -p it goes" Hit g59 -ppe" -ppe"
And yet ne.er gro$s: ond gyt n5fre $ea+e:
[Mountain, I suppose. [Beor!, "e ince#.
II. Bilbo:
Thirty $hite horses on a red hill" ;r<ti= h$<tra horsa $>ron on (eorge r7ad-m"
?irst they %hamp" 5rest h<e (<ta6

"
Then they stamp" 6onne h<e 6y9
3
"
Then they stand still/ 6onne h<e 5tstanda6/
[Teeth$ Teeth$ M% preciousss& [Te$Te$ Min deor'ur###
4
&
but 'e onl% has six$ ac 'it
(
)nne h)*
@
siex$
III. Gollum:
Aoi%eless it %ries" Hleo6orleas hit %lipa9"
Wingless fl-tters" fi6erleas fleoge9"
Toothless (ites" tB6leas (ite6"
Mo-thless m-tters/ t-ngeleas
C
%l-ma9/
[+ind, 'ind o* course. [+ind, 'ind huru.
1 *-(D-n%ti.e" hypotheti%al Enone might seeF
Gite" %losest e1-i.alent to %hamp
3 3rd pers" sing" pres" indi% form of ,%'an, $hi%h means Eto %r-shF
4 Edeor$-r9eF H nominali4ed and dra$n o-t final %onsonant to sim-late 2oll-m's spee%h
! I-al pronon form0 2oll-m referring to himself as E$eF is li&ely in referen%e to t$o entities rather than more/
@ 3rd person sing/ ?orm/ E$e hasF
C Hleoorleas, t-leas, and tun!eleas are all %ompo-nds $hi%h , in.ented/ E)leasF is a %ommon s-ffi+" meaning
E$itho-tF/
IV. Bilbo:
An eye in a (l-e fa%e Eage in (l5$en-m and$litan
*a$ an eye in a green fa%e/ 2eseah eage in gr7n-m and$litan/
JThat eye is li&e to this eyeJ E;5t eage is geli% 6is eageF
*aid the first eye" C$56 65t eage forme"
JG-t in lo$ pla%e" EG-ton in ni6er$eard stede
K
Lot in high pla%e/J ELalles in heahstede/F
[.un on the daisies it "eans, it does [.unnan on " d)!es/0a!u"
M
hit "n, hit d0
V. Gollum:
,t %annot (e seen" %annot (e felt" Le %on hit (i6 gese$en" ne %on (i6 gefeled"
Cannot (e heard" %annot (e smelt/ Le %on (i6 gehyred" ne %on (i6 gest-n%en/
,t lies (ehind stars and -nder hills" Ge5ftan t-ngel ond -nder (eorgas hit leg6"
And empty holes it fills/ Ond sea6as 5mettige hit fyle6/
,t %omes first and follo$s after" Hit %ym9 5rest ond folga6 5fter"
Ends life" &ills la-ghter/ Enda6 lif" %$el6 hleahtor/
[1ark$ [1eorcnes$
VI. Bilbo:
A (o+ $itho-t hinges" &ey" or lid" Go+ h5f9 noh$59er heorras" ne %5gan" ne hlid"
Net golden treas-re inside is hid/ 2iet madm gylden is (e$rigen inne/
[E!!ses$ E!!ses it is$ [2!ruru
34
$ 2!ruru hit is$
K EG-t in a do$n$ards pla%eF
M Oiterally Eday's eyesF0 %on.eys a deep %onne%tion (et$een the t$o Eeyes of the dayF" the s-n and the daisies
1# ?rom E>=r-F" nom/ Pl-ral form of >=0 red-ndant E)r-F for effe%t
VII. Gollum:
Ali.e $itho-t (reath" Hit
11
%$i% is (-ton or-9"
As %old as death0 *$a %eald s$a d7a60
Le.er thirsty" e.er drin&ing" L5fre 6-rstig" ealneg drin%ende"
All in mail ne.er %lin&ing/ ,n (yrnan gegear$od
1
" n5fre dyniende/
[It is *ish$ [Hit is *isc$
VIII. Bilbo:
Lo)legs lay on one)leg" L5nig)s%an%an legde on an)s%an%an"
T$o)legs sat near on three)legs" T$a)s%an%an neah s5t on 6reo)s%an%-m"
?o-r)legs got some/ ?eo$er)s%an%an (egeat d>l
13
/
[5ish on a little table, "an at table [5isc on beode l6telu", "ann )t beode
sittin! on a stool, the cat has the bones on st-le sittende, se catt 7 b7n h)*
IX. Gollum:
This thing all things de.o-rs3 ;5t 6ing fors$elg9 ealle 6ing3
Girds" (easts" trees" flo$ers0 ?-glas" d7or" (7amas" (lostma0
2na$s iron" (ites steel0 Cy$e6 <sen" (<tt st<ele0
2rinds hard stones to meal0 2rin6 hearde stPnas into gr7ote
14
0
*lays &ing" r-ins to$n" *lieh6 %yning" ford76 %eastre"
And (eats high mo-ntain do$n/ Ond high (eorg gefyle6
1!
/
[Ti"e$ Ti"e$ [Tid$ Tid$
11 *-(De%t is implied in modern english/ OE senten%e is easier to translate $ith a stated nominati.e/ ,n this $ay" it also
more %losely resem(les E+eter Riddles
1 E,n %hainmail adornedF
13 Efo-r)legs got a partF
14 E2rinds hard stones into gritQsandQearthF H %losest appro+imation to original intent
1! E?ellF -sed to repla%e E(eats do$nF
X. Bilbo:
EWhat ha.e , got in my po%&et
1@
:F EH$5t do i% h5((e in pohhan minn-m:F
[8ot *air$ 8ot *air$It isn9t *air, [ 8a riht$ 8a riht$ 8a riht hit is,
"% precious, is it, to ask us 'hat "in deor'ur###, is hit, t- 7scienne unc h')t
it9s !ot in its nasst% little pocketses: hit h)* in his l6telu" pohhu"u" unsss%*reu":
3;

1@ Classi% e+ample of neck/riddle ar%hetype
1C Modified form of Epohh-m -nsyfre-mF" to em-late 2oll-m)spee%h