Enigmata Eusebii Explained

The Enigmata Eusebii (riddles of Eusebius) are a collection of sixty Latin, hexametrical riddles composed in early medieval England, probably in the eighth century.

Example

An example of Eusebius's work is enigma 42, on the dragon:

!Latin original!English translation
Latin: Horridus horriferas speluncae cumbo latebras, Concitus aethereis uolitans miscebor et auris, Cristatusque uolans pulcher turbabitur aether. Corpore uipereas monstra uel cetera turmas Reptile sum superans gestantia pondus inorme. Inmanisque ferus preparuo pascitur ore, Atque per angustas assumunt uiscera uenas Aethereum flatum; nec dentibus austera uirtus Est mihi, sed mea uim uiolentem cauda tenebit.A horrid beast, I lie in the ghastly gloom of a cavern,aroused, I fly fluttering into the lofty air

and fly with my crest displayed, the fair air whirling.

My crawling body is stronger than that of all snakes

or any monsters dragging their excessive weights.

Though uncouth and savage, I feed through a tiny mouth,

my chest through narrow pipes is filled with breath,

and not to my teeth do I owe my sinister power,

nay, the seat of my impetuous strength is in my tail.

Authorship

The manuscripts of the riddles name the author as Eusebius. This person has traditionally been identified as Hwætberht, the Abbot of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Priory, based on Bede's identification of Hwætberht with the cognomen of 'Eusebius' in his Commentary on I Samuel.[1] [2] However, the identification with Hwætberht has been questioned by several scholars, including Emily V Thornbury, who has suggested that a Kentish author might be likely.[3]

Origins

The Enigmata Eusebii seem to have been composed to expand on the forty riddles of Tatwine, a collection composed by the eighth-century Mercian priest and archbishop Tatwine, perhaps specifically to bring their number up to one hundred: the riddles of Tatwine and Eusebius both survive in the same two manuscripts, and in both the riddles of Eusebius are alongside Tatwine's. These are the early 11th-century London, British Library, Royal 12.Cxxiii (fols. 121v-7r) and the mid-11th-century Cambridge, University Library, Gg.5.35 (fols. 374v-77v). Both of these collections were almost certainly inspired by the slightly earlier riddles of Aldhelm, another collection of one hundred Latin riddles.[4] [5] Many of Eusebius's riddles (and his predecessors') are based on the encyclopaedic writing of Isidore of Seville.

Contents

Riddles 1-4 of Eusebius's riddles are on the chain of being, from God to Man, 5-11 mostly on cosmological phenomena, 12-29 a miscellaneous collection mostly of objects, 30-36 mostly on writing, and 37-60 on animals.[6] The following is a complete list.[7]

!Number!Latin title!English translation
1de DeoGod
2de angeloangel
3de demonefallen angel
4de homineman
5de caeloheaven
6de terraearth
7de litteraletters
8de uento et ignewind and fire
9de alphaalpha
10de solesun
11de lunamoon
12de bouebullock
13de uaccacow
14de x litterathe letter x
15de igne et aquafire and water
16de plascaflask
17de crucecross
18de iniquitate et iustitiainiquity and justice
19de v litterathe letter u
20de domohouse
21de terra et mareland and sea
22de sermonespeech
23de equoresea
24de morte et uitadeath and life
25de animoheart
26de die bissextilebissextile day
27de humilitate et superbiahumility and pride
28de candelacandle
29de etate et saltucycle and moon's leap
30de atramentorioink-horn
31de cerawax
32de membranoparchment-sheets
33de scethabook-wallet
34de flumineriver
35de pennaquill
36de gladiosword
37de uitulocalf
38de pullochicken
39de i litterathe letter i
40de piscefish
41de chelidro serpentewater-serpent
42de draconedragon
43de tigri bestiatiger
44de pant[h]erapanther
45de cameleonecamelopard (chameleon)
46de leopardoleopard
47de scitali serpentepiebald serpent
48de die et nocteday and night
49de anfibina serpentetwo-headed serpent
50de saura lacertolizard
51de scorpionescorpion
52de cymerachimera
53de ypotamo piscehippopotamus
54de ocenao pisceship-retaining fish
55de turpedo piscetorpedo fish
56de ciconia auistork
57de strutioneostrich
58de noctuaowlet
59de psitacoparrot
60de bubonehorned owl.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Williams, Mary Jane McDonald. The Riddles of Tatwine and Eusebius. Unpublished PhD Thesis. 1974. University of Michigan. 44-57.
  2. Book: Salvador-Bello. Isidorean Perceptions of Order. 234.
  3. Book: Thornbury, Emily V.. Becoming a Poet in Anglo-Saxon England. Cambridge University Press. 2014. Cambridge. 57-8.
  4. Book: Salvador-Bello, Mercedes. Isidorean Perceptions of Order: The Exeter Book Riddles and Medieval Latin Enigmata. West Virginia University Press. 2014. 9781935978527. Morgantown. 221.
  5. Book: Williams, Mary Jane McDonald. The Riddles of Tatwine and Eusebius. Unpublished PhD Thesis. 1974. University of Michigan. 44-57. .
  6. Mercedes Salvador-Bello, 'Patterns of Compilation in Anglo-Latin Enigmata and the Evidence of A Source-Collection in Riddles 1-40 of the Exeter Book, Viator, 43 (2012), 339–374 (p. 373-74). 10.1484/J.VIATOR.1.102554.
  7. 'Aenigmata Evsebii', ed. by Fr. Glorie, trans. by Erika von Erhardt-Seebold, in Tatuini omnia opera, Variae collectiones aenigmatum merovingicae aetatis, Anonymus de dubiis nominibus, Corpus christianorum: series latina, 133-133a, 2 vols (Turnholt: Brepols, 1968), I 209-71.