- published: 03 Jun 2016
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A riddle is a statement or question or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: enigmas, which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that require ingenuity and careful thinking for their solution, and conundrums, which are questions relying for their effects on punning in either the question or the answer.
Riddles occur extensively in Old English poetry, drawing partly on an Anglo-Latin literary tradition whose principal exponent was Aldhelm (c. 639-709), himself inspired by the fourth- or fifth-century Latin poet Symphosius. Riddles thus have a distinguished literary ancestry, although the contemporary sort of conundrum that passes under the name of "riddle" may not make this obvious. In the Anglo-Saxon world, the wis had wisdom due to their wit – their ability to conciliate and mediate by maintaining multiple perspectives, which has degenerated into a species of comedy, but was not always a mere laughing matter. This wit was taught with a form of oral tradition called the riddle, a collection of which were bound, along with various other gnomic verses, poems and maxims in the tenth century and deposited in Exeter Cathedral in the eleventh century - the so-called Exeter Book, one of the most important surviving collections of Old English manuscripts. The riddles in this book vary in significance from childish rhymes and ribald innuendo, to some particularly interesting insights into the thought world of our archaic linguistic ancestors, such as the following (Riddle 47 from the Exeter Book):
RETURN TO RIDDLE SCHOOL?!
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KILLING OUR FRIENDS?! | Riddle School 5 #2
Actors: Noble Willingham (actor), Sean Young (actress), Bill Zuckert (actor), Alice Drummond (actress), David Margulies (actor), Courteney Cox (actress), Raynor Scheine (actor), Mark Margolis (actor), Udo Kier (actor), Troy Evans (actor), Antoni Corone (actor), Jim Carrey (actor), John Capodice (actor), James G. Robinson (producer), Gary Barber (producer),
Plot: To be a Pet Detective, you have to understand both the criminals and animals. Ace Ventura goes even further... He behaves like a criminal animal. When a football team's mascot (a dolphin) is stolen just before the Superbowl, Ace Ventura is put on the case. Now, who would want to steal a dolphin, and why?
Keywords: 1990s, american-football, animal, aquarium, ass, bare-butt, bird, bodyguard, boy-dog-relationship, braActors: Nick Cave (writer), David Field (actor), John Flaus (actor), John Flaus (miscellaneous crew), Nick Cave (composer), Nick Cave (actor), Blixa Bargeld (composer), Mick Harvey (actor), Mick Harvey (composer), Bogdan Koca (actor), Vincent Gil (actor), Peter Lawless (actor), Mike Bishop (actor), Chris DeRose (actor), John Hillcoat (director),
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Plot: A short plot summary finds Wild Bill Hickok ('Bill Elliott (III)' (qv)), the U.S. Marshal in Abilene, Kansas, opposing the Phantom Raiders, a gang of renegades raiding the cattle drives over the Chisholm Trail from Texas to Abilene. Hickok organizes the boys of the town into the "Flaming Arrows" to assist him. Finally, in the 15th chapter, "Trail's End", Hickok, the "Flaming Arrows" and army scout Kit Lawson ('Kermit Maynard' (qv)) combine to put an end to the Phantom Raiders.
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Genres: Drama,He's the riddle what has two eyes that cry constantly
For your love you guessed it's me
He's the riddle who has two arms that long deseprately
For your love you guessed it's me
And your love was once all the treasure I'd known now that's gone
Gone on wings of a wild dream now I'm all alone
One more riddle what has one heart that beats faithfully
For your love you guessed it's me
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