Many cultures have riddle traditions. Viking and Anglo-Saxon riddles are still very popular with English speakers, even though they were first told more than a thousand years ago! These riddles often have simple solutions such as “key” or “onion,” but are told in a creative way. You can find many collections online. [1] X Research source Riddles are also quite popular in modern fantasy literature, movies, and TV. J. R. R. Tolkien’s book The Hobbit has a whole chapter devoted to “Riddles in the Dark” told between two characters.
Other topics are natural phenomena like a storm or snow, an animal, or an action. Avoid topics that are very abstract or require specialized knowledge.
Here is an example of a very short riddle from the Anglo-Saxon ‘’Book of Exeter’’, written in the 900s AD: “A wonder on the wave / water became bone. ” (Answer: ice on a lake. ) Here is an example of a longer riddle from the Book of Exeter: “When I am alive I do not speak. / Anyone who wants to takes me captive and cuts off my head. / They bite my bare body / I do no harm to anyone unless they cut me first. / Then I soon make them cry. ” (Answer: an onion. )
For example, you could choose “a pencil” as your solution, because most people will be familiar with it.
For “pencil,” some items for your list could include: “No. 2” (the most common type of writing pencil)[2] X Research source ), “wood,” “rubber,” “yellow,” “pink hat” (the eraser), “looks like the letter ’l’ or the number ‘1’” (physical aspects of the pencil’s shape). You could also include other aspects of your pencil: for example, it needs to be sharpened as it writes which means it will get shorter over time the more it’s used (a possible paradox). Another common trick is to think of things your item can do: for example, a pencil is small but contains all things (because you can write “all things” with a pencil).
Here is a riddle that uses metaphor to describe a pencil: “A golden sword that wears a rosy hat, it is two trees, both Number 1 and Number 2. " The pencil is a “sword” because it is pointed sharply at one end. This description also plays with the common saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword,” and may help provide a clue. The “rosy hat” refers to the eraser. The “two trees” are cedar (the most common type of wood used for pencils),[3] X Research source and rubber (the type of tree that produces rubber for erasers). The pencil looks like the numeral “1” but is actually a “#2” pencil. This description is a double pun, because the #2 pencil is actually the most common, or “number one,” type of pencil.
For example, a simply worded riddle involving a pencil could be: “This thing is small but contains all things; the longer it goes, the shorter it gets. " Here is an example of a famous riddle from The Hobbit that uses simple, descriptive language: “A box without hinges, key, or lid, / Yet golden treasure inside is hid. ” (Answer: an egg. )
For example, this riddle about a pencil uses personification as well as metaphor: “I wear a rosy hat but have no head; I’m sharp but have no brain. I can say anything, but will never speak a word. "
For example, “I wear a rosy hat but have no head” uses “h” to create a pleasing alliteration. Here is a very poetic riddle whose solution is a common tool: “I drink the blood of the Earth, / and the trees fear my roar, / yet a man may hold me in his hands. ” (Answer: a chainsaw. )[4] X Research source Sometimes riddles also use “kennings,” which are poetic, figurative descriptions of something simple – a riddle within a riddle! In the above riddle, the “blood of the Earth” is gas, which a chainsaw uses for power. [5] X Research source This was a very common technique in Viking riddles.
