| Riddles in the Sagas. | ||
| Riddles in the Sagas. Baron Fridrikr inn gamli Anyone who has read JRR Tolkien's "children's book", The Hobbit, is aware of the riddle game that Bilbo Baggins plays with Gollum. It features riddles such as: Thirty white horse on a red hill, First they champ, Then they stamp, Then they stand still The answer to this is, of course, "teeth" One more example: Alive without breath, As cold as death; Never thirsty, ever drinking, All in mail never clinking. The answer is "fish". (Tolkien, 1966:85,87) This "battle of wits" which goes on for quite a while in the roots of Moria, is a form of a Höfuðlausn, or head ransom, as Bilbo is playing for his life. All goes according to the rules, as Tolkien points out, until the last "riddle" that Bilbo puts, "What have I got in my pockets?" The answer is the gold ring that he has found on the ground (the ring that will lead the other complications, three more novels, and numerous movies, animated features, audio books, and literary criticism). Here, by not asking proper riddle, ["a question or statement intentionally worded in a dark or puzzling manner, and propounded in order that it may be guessed or answered." (Shorter OED:1735)], Bilbo cheats at the game, little knowing that he is following in the proverbial footsteps of one of the greatest riddle-game players of all antiquity, Óðinn himself. The most famous riddle-game in Old Norse literature is contained in "The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise" in which King Heidrek gets into a contest with Gestumblindi. The introductory paragraph tells us about Gestumblindi and his prowess: "There was a man called Gestumblindi, a powerful man and a great enemy of King Heidrek. The king sent him word to come and be reconciled, if he cared for his life. Now Gestumblindi was no great sage, and because he knew he was incapable of vying with the king in words, and knew too that it would go heavy with him if he had to abide by the judgement of the wise men, for his crimes were many, he decided on this plan: to sacrifice to Óðinn for help, to ask him to look after his case and to promise him many gifts." (Tolkien,1960:32) Of course, a dark stranger appears at his door, looking exactly like him and takes Gestumblindi's place at King Heidrek's court. In this battle of wits, Gestumblindi/Óðinn exchanges riddles with King Heidrek. I’ll only give you two or three to let you see the parallels to Bilbo’s contest with Gollum (I’ll put the answers at the close of this article). 1. What strange marvel 2. What strange marvel 3. Pale-haired bondmaids (Tolkien,1960:35-36) You can see that the solutions become more and more obscure and that King Heidrek is tested. There are two more I would cite, including the final riddle. 4. Four are hanging 5. What said Óðinn (Tolkien, 1960:43-44) This last, of course is not a riddle, but rather is a piece of information that only Óðinn himself can know. It gives away his identity, as becomes apparent: “You alone know that, vile creature!” cried King Heidrek, and he drew [his sword] Tyrfing and slashed at Óðinn, but he changed himself into a hawk and flew away; yet the king, striking after him, took off his tailfeathers, and that is why the hawk has been so short-tailed ever since. (Tolkien 1960:44) This ending parallels Gollum’s attempt to kill Bilbo after he realizes that the hobbit has cheated him and stolen his precious ring. This contest, the only one of any significance in the later sagas, has a famous analogue in the Poetic Edda. This is Alvissmal (All-Wise One’s Sayings), in which Vingthor (a heiti or name for Thor) engages in a riddle contest against Alvis, an evil dwarf who has come to take Freya as his bride. In the poem, Vingthor asks Alvis a string of questions about what various parts of nature (and beer!) are called. In this case, Vingthor is not exactly asking riddles, but rather a kind of "Trivial Pursuit". It is noteworthy, because it might be viewed as a "teaching tool", a popular children's story in which a parent would encourage the children to give the answers to the riddles as the story progressed. Of course, we can't know this for certain, but the possibility is there. And, once again, Thor cheats, as he distracts Alvis until the sun comes up and the dwarf is turned to stone and probably shatters, as in many legends of dwarfs. (Lindow:56-57) Those who are truly up on The Hobbit may recall a similar fate (turning to stone) befalling the trolls who would have devoured Bilbo and his party. (Tolkien 1966:51) In her article, “Time and JRR Tolkien’s ‘Riddles in the Dark,” Marie Nelson points out that “The exchange between two speakers here has been a neck riddle game, a game in which one contestant's life was at stake, and fair game or not, at the end of this part of The Hobbit story Bilbo wins the right to emerge from a long dark tunnel.” (Nelson:7) Yet, Bilbo himself feels some shame at having cheated: “He knew, of course, that the riddle-game was sacred and of immense antiquity, and even wicked creatures were afraid to cheat when they played at it.” (Tolkien 1966:90) Everyone, that is, except Óðinn and Þor! Works Cited Hollander, Lee M (Ed.). The Poetic Edda. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1986. Larrington, Carolyne (Ed.). The Poetic Edda. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1996. Lindow, John. Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Nelson, Marie. “Time and JRR Tolkien's 'Riddles in the Dark'”. Bnet.com. 2009. ‹http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0OON/is_1-2_27/ai_n30956843/?tag=content;col1<›. Last accessed: 12 October 2009. Originally appeared in "Mythlore, Fall-Winter 2008. Onions, C.T. (Ed.) Oxford Universal English Dictionary (Shorter OED), 12 vol. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1937, vol. VIII (Rel-Sol). Tolkien, Christopher (Ed.). Saga Heidreks Konungs in Vitra: The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1960. Tolkien, JRR. The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1966. Oh yes. The answers to the riddles from King Heidrek’s Saga:
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