OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Anglo-Saxon Riddles of the Exeter Book/Annotated/63

63 (k-d 22)
| Came sixty riding on horseback to the seashore. Eleven rode on stately steeds; four white horses. However they tried they could not cross the water, for it was too deep and the banks too high and the currents too strong. So they climbed on a wagon, with their horses under the pole. Then a horse bore them all, horses and proud men with spears, across the bay and on to the land, though no ox drew it, nor powerful slaves, nor stout steed—neither swam nor walked on the ground under the strange burden, nor stirred the waters, nor flew in the air, nor turned back. Yet the men crossed the stream and their steeds also, from the high bank. So they strode up on the other side bravely, men and horses, safe and sound from the water. | 10 20 | Ætsomne cwom lx monna to wægstæþe wicgum ridan hæfdon xi eoredmæcgas fridhengestas iiii sceamas ne meahton magorincas ofer mere feolan swa hi fundedon ac wæs flod to deop atol yþa geþræc ofras hēa streamas · stronge ongunnon stigan þa on wægn weras ⁊ hyra wicg somod hlodan under hrunge þa þa hors oðbær eh ⁊ eorlas æscum dealle ofer wætres byht wægn to lande swa hine oxa ne teah ne esna mægen ne fæthengest ne on flode swom · ne be grunde wod gestum under ne lagu drefde ne of lyfte fleag neon der bæc cyrde brohte hwæþre beornas ofer burnan ⁊ hyra bloncan mid from stæðe heaum þæt hy stopan up on oþerne ellenrofe weras of wæge ⁊ hyra wicg gesund |
This is a rather simplified rendering (in a somewhat different meter from the others) of what is known as a world-riddle, found in varying forms in the Orient as in the West. Being interpreted, the sixty men are half-days (days and nights) of a month and the month is December. The four white horses are Sundays and the other seven are the feast days of December (Conception of the Virgin, St. Nicholas, St. Thomas, Christmas, St. Stephen, St. John Evangelist, Holy Innocents). The opposite shore is January, the New Year. There are difficulties in all this, but the main interest is the puzzling situation more or less realistically described. A quite different solution is proposed by L. Blakeley, (R.E.S. n.s. 9 [1958], 241–52), who calls it “The Circling Stars,” i.e., the constellation of Charles’s Wain, eleven of which are visible to the naked eye; sixty is a round number for the surrounding stars.
# Anglo-Saxon Riddles of the Exeter Book/Annotated/67

67 (k-d 95)
This, the last riddle in the Exeter book, is unhappily the most difficult. The text is complete but almost certainly corrupt, and any attempt to translate it is only a desperate hope, even after the experts have done their best with emendations.
| I am a lordly, thing known to nobles, and often I rest, famous among peoples, the mighty and the lowly; I travel widely and to me first a stranger remains to my friends the delight of plunderers, if I am to have success in the cities or bright reward. Now wise men exceedingly love my presence. To many I shall declare wisdom. There they speak not, none the world over. Though now the sons of men who live on the earth eagerly seek the tracks that I make. I sometimes conceal those paths of mine from all mankind. | 10 | Ic eom Indryhten ⁊ eorlum cuð ⁊ reste oft ricum ⁊ heanū folcū gefræge fereð wide ⁊ me fremdes ær freondum stonde&eth hiþendra hyht gif ic habban sceal blæd in burgum oþþe beorhtne god nu snottre men swiþast lufiaþ midwist mine Ic monigum sceal wisdom cyþan no þær word sprecað ænig ofer eorðan þeah nu ælda bearn londbuendra lastas mine swiþe secað ic swaþe hwilum mine bemiþe monna gehwylcum |
Perhaps Moon, perhaps Wandering Minstrel, perhaps Riddle. If the last, this is “a kind of monkish colophon to the collection” (Wyatt). Mrs. von Earhardt-Siebold (MLN lxii [1947], 558–59), taking “the delight of plunders” as a kenning for Quill-pen, would make that a clue to the solution.
# Anglo-Saxon Riddles of the Exeter Book/Annotated/68

68 (k-d 24)
| I’m a wonderful thing; I vary my voice: I bark like a dog, I bleat like a goat, I quack like a goose, I shriek like a hawk; I imitate the eagle, the gray one, the cry Of the fighting bird; sometimes the kite’s voice is familiar to my mouth, or the sea-mew’s song, where I happily sit. GIFT is my name, OAK and RIDING and the GOD helps, HAIL and ICE. Now you have my name, as those six letters clearly betoken. | 10 | Ic eom wunderlicu wiht wræsne mine stefne · hwilum beorce swa hund · hwilū blæte swa gat · hwilum græde swa gōs · hwilū gielle swa hafoc · hwilū ic onhyrge þone haswan earn guðfugles hleoþor · hwilum glidan reorde muþe gemæne · hwilum mæwes song þær ic glado sitte · ᚷ · mec nemnað swylce · ᚫ · ⁊ · ᚱ · ᚩ · fullesteð · ᚻ · ⁊ · ᛁ · nu ic haten eom swa þa siex stafas sweotule becnaþ |
Here the runes are given their names, which of course are not intended to make sense; but their initial letters (underlined in the translation) are G A R O H I, which transposed spell HIGORA, jay or magpie. This is more like a puzzle than a riddle. If Jay is the solution of 22 (k-d 8), the two writers listened with different ears.
# Anglo-Saxon Riddles of the Exeter Book/Annotated/69

69 (k-d 42)
| I saw there two beautiful creatures openly playing the game of love. If the affair prospered, the fair-haired one proudly arrayed, received her due fulness. Now I can tell the assembled bookmen the names of both in runic letters. There shall be NEED, two of these, and the bright ASH tree, one on the line, and then two OAKS and two HAILS likewise. Whoever has unlocked with the power of the key the clasps of the chest which held the riddle cunningly hidden from the learned in runes— now is revealed to them here as they drink how those two of low minds are called by name. | N N Æ A A H H 10 | Ic seah wyhte wrætlice twa undearnunga ute plegan hæmedlaces hwitloc anfeng wlanc under wædum gif þæs weorces speop fæmne fyllo Ic on flette mæg þurh runstafas rincum secgan þā þe bec witan bega ætsomne naman þara wihta þær sceal nyd wesan twega oþer ⁊ se torhta æsc an an linan acas twegen hægelas swa some hwylc wæs hordgates cægan cræfte þa clamme onleac þe þa rædellan wið rȳne menn hygefæste heold heortan bewrigene orþoncbendum nu is undyrne werum æt wine hu þa wihte mid us heanmode twa hatne sindon · |
This is, as the author says, self-explanatory, if you recognize the runes: HANA (cock) and HÆN (hen).
# Anglo-Saxon Riddles of the Exeter Book/Annotated/62

62 (k-d 85)
| Not silent is my hall, nor I myself am loud . . . for us two the Lord ordained our ways together. I am swifter than he and at times stronger; he is more enduring. Often I rest; he must run on. With him is my home all my life long. If we two are parted my death is destined. | Nis min sele swige ne ic sylfa hlud ymb . . . unc driht scop siþ ætsomne Ic eom swistre þōn he þragum strengra he þreohtigra · hwilum Ic me reste he sceal yrnan forð Ic him In wunige a þenden Ic lifge gif wit unc gedælað me bið deað witod |
Fish and River. This is based on Symphosius 12.
# Anglo-Saxon Riddles of the Exeter Book/Annotated/65

65 (k-d 52)
| I saw two captives carried in the house under the hall-roof; sturdy were they both; companions they were, fast bound together. Close to one of them was a dark-skinned slave. She controlled them both by fast fetters. | Ic seah ræpingas In ræced fergan · under hrof sales hearde twegen þa wæron genamne nearwum bendum gefeterade fæste togædre þara oþrum wæs an getenge wonfah wale seo weold hyra bega siþe bendum fæstra |
This at least invites guessing: for example, two Buckets from a well, or perhaps Flail (the two captives being handle and swingle).
# Anglo-Saxon Riddles of the Exeter Book/Annotated/61

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.
# Anglo-Saxon Riddles of the Exeter Book/Annotated/64

64 (k-d 46)
| He sat at his wine with his two wives and his two sons and his two daughters, the beloved sisters, and their two sons, goodly first born. The father of each of these noble ones was there and there also an uncle and a nephew. Five in all, men and women, were sitting together. | Wær sæt æt wine mid his wifum · twam ⁊ his twegen suno ⁊ his twa dohtor swase gesweostor ⁊ hyre suno twegen freolico frumbearn fæder wæs þær Inne þara æþelinga æghwæðres mid eam ⁊ nefa ealra wæron fife eorla ⁊ idesa Insittendra |
Namely, Lot and his two daughters and their two children, Moab and Ben Ammi (Gen. 19: 30–38).
# Anglo-Saxon Riddles of the Exeter Book/Annotated/66

66 (k-d 74)
| I was a young woman, a fair-haired lady, and at the same time a peerless warrior; I flew with the birds and swam in the sea, dove under the wave, and was dead among fishes, and I walked on the ground. I had a living soul. | Ic wæs fæmne geong feax hār cwene ⁊ ænlic rinc on ane tid fleah mid fuglum ⁊ on flode swom deaf under yþe dead mid fiscum ⁊ on foldan stop hæfde forð cwicu |
One guess is Siren; another Water. If the latter, one would rather say Rain: a gentle shower, a heavy downpour, in the sea its natural form (its life) is lost; a little imagination can see it as hail walking on the ground. A third solution is offered by Mrs. von Erhardt-Siebold (Medium Ævum xv [1946], 48–54), comparing Frag. 117 of Empedocles:
    Once I was a young man, maiden, plant, bird, and mute fish cast ashore.
This, of course, is not a riddle, but an expression of cyclic metamorphosis. Just how an Anglo-Saxon came to know Empedocles is not clear.
# Anglo-Saxon Riddles of the Exeter Book/Annotated/60

60 (k-d 28)
| There’s a bit of earth beautifully sown with the hardest and the sharpest and the grimmest that men own. Cut and cleaned, turned and dried; pleached and wound; bleached and bound; adorned and arrayed and borne away to the doors of men. Joy is within for living creatures. It delays and it stays a long long while. They live in joy and naught gainsays. But after the death they start talking big, chattering, chittering. It is hard for a wise man to say what this is. | 10 | Biþ foldan dæl fægre gegierwed mid þy heardestan ⁊ mid þy scearpestan ⁊ mid þy grymmestan gumena ge streona · corfen sworfen cyrred þyrred bunden wunden blæced wæced frætwed geatwed feorran læded to durum dryhta dream bið in innan cwicra wihta clengeð lengeð þara þe ær lifgende longe hwile wilna bruceð ⁊ no wið spriceð ⁊ þōn æfter deaþe deman onginneð meldan mislice micel is to hycganne wisfæstum menn hwæt seo wiht sy |
This is a sprightly companion to the preceding and more conventional riddle. It describes the preparation and effects of malt liquor and is sometimes given the title of John Barleycorn, after the much later ballad of that name. The first part is notable for its jingling rimes:
| mid þy heardestan and mid þy scearpestan … Corfen, sworfen, cyrred þyrred, bunden, wunden, blæced, wæced … cwicra wihta. Clengeð, lengeð … | 2 4 8 |
From l. 6 on the text is puzzling and something may have been omitted by the copyist. Literally: ‘it (the joy) clings, lingers, of those who before were living; for a long time they enjoy their pleasures and nothing gainsays (them). Then after death they begin to talk variously.’ This seems to mean that those who drink are happy and feel alive for a time; then they are overtaken, dead to themselves, and talk recklessly.
# Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Schem, Alexander Jacob

Edition of 1900. The Latin-English dictionary was prepared with George R. Crooks.
​SCHEM, Alexander Jacob, author, b. in Wiedenbrück, Prussia, 16 March, 1826; d. in West Hoboken, N. J., 21 May, 1881. He studied theology and philology in Bonn and Tübingen, and came to the United States in 1851. In 1854 he became professor of ancient and modern languages in Dickinson college, but he resigned in 1860 to devote himself to literature. He was a writer for the New York “Tribune” till 1869, when he undertook the editorship of the “Deutsch-amerikanisches Conversations-Lexicon” (11 vols., New York, 1869-'74). From 1874 till his death he held the office of assistant superintendent of the public schools in New York city. He was a contributor to other cyclopædias of statistical, geographical, and religious articles. He was one of the editors of the “Methodist” and of the “Methodist Quarterly Review.” He prepared, with Rev. George B. Crooks, a “Latin-English Dictionary” (Philadelphia, 1857), and published several editions of “Schem's Statistics of the World”; the “American Ecclesiastical Year-Book” (New York, 1860); the “Ecclesiastical Almanac” (1868 and 1869); and, with Henry Kiddle, a “Cyclopædia of Education” (1877), which was followed by two annual supplements called the “Year-Book of Education” (1878 and 1879).
# Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Scharf, John Thomas

Edition of 1900.
​SCHARF, John Thomas, author, b. in Baltimore, Md., 1 May, 1843; d. 28 Feb., 1898. He entered the counting-house of his father in Baltimore, when sixteen years of age. In the beginning of the civil war he joined a Confederate battery, was engaged in the battles around Richmond in 1862, was wounded at Cedar Mountain, at the second battle of Bull Run, and again at Chancellorsville, and on 20 June, 1863, was appointed a midshipman in the Confederate navy. In January, 1864, he took part in the capture of the steamer “Underwriter,” near New Berne, N. C. He rejoined the army after all the ports were blockaded, and was captured in Maryland while on his way to Canada with despatches. After the war he engaged in mercantile business, then in journalism, and in 1874 was admitted to the bar. In 1878 he was a member of the legislature. Since 1884 he had been a commissioner of the land office of Maryland. Georgetown college gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1885. He had been editor of the Baltimore “Telegram” and “Morning Herald.” Besides many historical addresses and magazine articles, he has published “Chronicles of Baltimore” (Baltimore, 1874); “History of Maryland” (3 vols., 1879); “History of Baltimore City and County” (Philadelphia, 1881); “History of Western Maryland” (2 vols., 1882); “History of St. Louis” (2 vols., 1884); “History of Philadelphia” (3 vols., 1884); “History of Westchester County, N. Y.” (2 vols., 1886); “History of the Confederate States Navy from the Laying of the First Keel to the Sinking of the Last Vessel” (1887; 2d ed., Albany, 1894); “History of the State of Delaware” (1888); and “Natural and Industrial Resources and Advantages of Maryland” (Annapolis, 1892).
# Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Schauffler, William Gottlieb

Edition of 1900.
​SCHAUFFLER, William Gottlieb, missionary, b. in Stuttgart, Germany, 22 Aug., 1798; d. in New York city, 27 Jan., 1883. He emigrated to Odessa, Russia, with his parents and about 400 others, in 1804, and adopted his father's trade, that of a maker of wooden musical instruments. In 1820 the preaching of Ignatius Lindl, a Roman Catholic priest of evangelical views, turned his thoughts toward religion, and he resolved to devote his life to mission work. After serving as an independent missionary in Turkey in 1826 he made his way to the United States, with no property but his clothes, his flute, and one dollar in money, and entered Andover theological seminary, where he supported himself for a time by turning wooden bed-posts. He was graduated in 1830, ordained on 14 Nov., 1831, and returned to Turkey under the auspices of the American board. He married an American lady soon afterward, and resided chiefly in Constantinople during his missionary service of forty-four years, laboring principally among the Jews and Armenians. In 1843 he was instrumental in persuading Sir Stratford Canning, the British minister, to interfere in behalf of members of the latter race that had been persecuted by the Armenian patriarch. For his efforts in behalf of the German colony in Constantinople he received a decoration from the king of Prussia. From 1839 till 1842 he resided in Vienna engaged in translating the Scriptures into Hebrew-Spanish. The work was published in that city in two quarto volumes. He made a visit to this country in 1857-'8, and from 1877, three years after his retirement from active work, resided here till his death. The University of Halle gave him the degree of D. D. in 1867, and Princeton that of LL. D. in 1879. Dr. Schauffler was a scholar of fine attainments, being “able to speak ten languages and read as many more.” Besides the work mentioned above, he was the author of a translation of the Bible into Turkish, which received high praise. His English publications include, besides single sermons, “Essay on the Right Use of Property” (Boston, 1832), and “Meditations on the Last Days of Christ” (1837; new eds., 1853 and 1858). See his “Autobiography,” edited by his sons, with an introduction by Prof. Edwards A. Park (New York, 1887).
# Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Scattergood, Thomas

​SCATTERGOOD, Thomas, Quaker preacher, b. in Burlington. N. J., 23 Jan.. 1754; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 24 April, 1814. His great-grandfather, of the same name, was of the company of Quakers that went to Burlington in 1676. His father, Joseph, at first a mariner, became a lawyer, and died when Thomas was six years old, leaving him to the care of his mother, who, after giving him a good English education, apprenticed him to a trade. He became a tanner, in which business he continued throughout his life. He was an active member in the Society of Friends, was for many years a noted elder of the sect, and in the work of the ministry travelled extensively in this country and in Great Britain. His “Memoirs” were printed in the “Friends' Library,” vol. viii. (Philadelphia, 1844), and afterward published in a separate volume (London, 1845).
# Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Schell, Augustus

Edition of 1900.
​SCHELL, Augustus, politician, b. in Rhinebeck, N. Y., 1 Aug., 1812; d. in New York city, 27 March, 1884. He was graduated at Union in 1830, studied at Litchfield law-school, was admitted to the bar, and soon gained a lucrative practice in New York city. He was made chairman of the Tammany hall general committee in 1852, and was at the head of the Democratic state committee in 1853-'6. During the administration of President Buchanan he was collect or of the port of New York. He was chairman of the National committee of the wing of the Democratic party that supported John C. Breckinridge for the presidency in 1860, and in 1872 held the same office during the Greeley canvass. In 1867 he was an active member of the convention to revise the state constitution. After the trial of William M. Tweed and his associates Mr. Schell labored for the purification and rehabilitation of the Tammany society, and in 1878 was its unsuccessful candidate for mayor. He was a director in many railroad and financial corporations, and was active in the management of philanthropic institutions. Several of Mr. Schell's brothers have been well-known business men of New York city.
# Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Schebosh, John Joseph

Edition of 1900.
​SCHEBOSH, John Joseph, missionary, b. at Skippaok, Pa., 27 May, 1721; d. in Ohio, 4 Sept., 1788. He united with the Moravian church in 1742, and for forty-five years served in the Indian mission. His real name was Joseph Bull, and he was of Quaker parentage, but he was universally called Schebosh (running water), the name that was given him by the Indians. His wife was a convert from the Sopus Indians, who, after a union of forty-one years, died in 1787, leaving issue.
# Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Schanck, John Stilwell

Edition of 1900.
​SCHANCK, John Stilwell, educator, b. near Freehold, N. J., 24 Feb., 1817; d. in Princeton, 16 Dec., 1898. He was graduated at Princeton, and at the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1843, settled in Princeton, and followed the practice of his profession there until 1865. In 1847 he was called to the curatorship of the college museum and to give lectures on anatomy, physiology, and zoölogy. In 1855-'6 he instructed the senior class in chemistry, and in 1857 he was elected to succeed John Torrey in the professorship. Under his direction the course was enlarged and extended, and he lectured on anatomy, physiology, chemistry, and hygiene. He was a member of various scientific societies, and received the degree of LL. D. from Lafayette.
# Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Schank, John

Edition of 1900.
​SCHANK, John, British naval officer, b. in Fifeshire, Scotland, in 1740: d. in Dawlish, England, 6 March, 1823. He entered the royal navy when young, was a lieutenant in 1776, and was employed on the lakes during the Revolutionary war, constructing in less than six weeks the “Inflexible,” which defeated Gen. Benedict Arnold's fleet on Lake Champlain, and displaying ability as a seaman. His talents as an engineer were applied in Gen. John Burgoyne's expedition to the building of floating bridges, and on his return to England he was made a post-captain for his services. He attained the rank of admiral of the blue in 1822. He devised a method of navigating vessels in shallow water by means of sliding keels, besides other ingenious inventions, and was the author of several works on naval architecture.