User:BRASHpoet/Anglo Saxon Riddle

An Anglo Saxon Riddle is an older form of poetry from the earliest reaches of the English language. There are several characteristics of Anglo Saxon Riddle. Foremost, the poem obliquely describes some object without naming or identifying it outright, thus being a riddle for the listener (or in later times, readers) to figure out. This is, by definition, the distinguishing characteristic of all Anglo Saxon riddles.

Other chief characteristics of Anglo Saxon riddles include alliteration, caesura, and concealment of the riddle's answer, most commonly through acrostic/mesostic placement.

Alliteration This is the most common poetic device used in Anglo Saxon riddle forms. Anglo Saxon riddles do not rhyme, but use alliteration, repeated consonant sounds within the line. The alliteration usually extends across the caesura (or pause) in the middle of the line, and each line has its own alliterative quality, that is to say, the alliteration in one line does not generally carry into the next. The alliteration does not, but may, correspond to the sound of the letter forming the acrostic or the mesostic, which provides a further clue for listeners to use in ferreting out the solution to the riddle.

Caesura Caesura is a pause in the middle of a line of poetry, and is a distinguishing feature of much Anglo Saxon literature, not merely of the riddle. This pause is not always as distinctly expressed in the translations of poetry into contemporary language. This type of poetic device is also found prominently in classic Greek poetry, though it is possibly not a direct antecedent to the device in Anglo Saxon literature. Rather, the device is probably more closely inspired by the natural amount of sound and syllable that can be carried on one breath, especially in a form that is recited or performed, which is generally slower and more dramatic than day-to-day speech.

Acrostic/Mesostic An acrostic is a poem (or other piece of literature) whose initial letters spell out a "hidden" message, in the case of Anglo Saxon Riddles, generally the solution, the object being described without being directly identified. A mesostic is a poem using a similar device, but the column of letters is in the middle of the poem, generally (but not always) after the point of caesura.