Exeter Riddle 46
A man sits to wine with:
his two wives
his two sons
his two daughters, beloved sisters
their two sons, good firstborns;
the father of each prince
with them an uncle
a nephew.
In all five men and women seated in.
(from the Exeter Book; Codex Exoniensis, Exeter Cathedral Library MS 3501)
Wer sæt æt wine mid his wifum twam
ond his twegen suno ond his twa dohtor,
swase gesweostor, ond hyra suno twegen,
freolico frumbearn; fæder wæs þær inne
þara æþelinga æghwaðres mid,
eam ond nefa. Ealra wæron fife
eorla ond idesa insittendra.
Spenser Santos is completing a PhD in medieval English literature and an MFA in literary translation at the University of Iowa. He fell in love with languages in high school, and has been fascinated by Old English for almost a decade. His translations from Icelandic and Old English have been featured on Asymptote Journal’s Translation Tuesday blog.
