Thursday, September 21, 2006

The Riddler

Most people I know like riddles. They are usually amusing and both adults and children enjoy and appreciate them. They can also be a connection to history.

Many cultures have enjoyed riddles and they have become part of their traditions. The best documented is a riddle-poem tradition of the Anglo-Saxon, the Vikings, and The Teutons. These people of the Dark Ages played riddle games around their hearth-fires for more than five hundred years.

Here is an example of an ancient riddle that came from the Red Book of Exeter:
Riddle:

I am fire-fretted
and I flirt with the wind;
my limbs are light-freighted
I am lapped in flame.
I am storm-stacked
and I strain to fly
I am grove leaf-bearing
and a glowing coal

What am I?
Answer: You are a beam of wood

I thought this might be fun, and get our creative juices flowing. You can blog a riddle that you know or we can play a riddle game.

I will start, here is my riddle, when you figure it out, please don't forget to blog me the answer. Here it is:

The Wise Son
An old man wanted to leave all of his money to one of his three sons, but he didn't know which one he should give it to. He gave each of them a few coins and told them to buy something that would e able to fill their living room. The first son bought straw, but there was not enough to fill the room. The second son bought some sticks, but that didn't fill the room either. The third son bought two things that filled the room, so he obtained his father's fortune. Where were the two things that the third son bought?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

thank you gary for your comment. the correct question is "what are the 2 items that the son bought?"

Anonymous said...

thank you gary for your comment. the correct question is "what are the 2 items that the son bought?"

Ruth Wahtera said...

Okay, you got me. I've been thinking about this all morning.

How about a lamp to fill the room with light? A stereo to fill the room with music? Incense to fill the room with the smell of jasmine?