5 · January 4th
I am the protector of the people,
With a belly bound with bands and jewels,
And filled with old treasures. Often,
By day, I spit forth spear-terror,
The more in my belly the better I slay.
Often I swallow battle weapons,
Dark-brown spears, poisoned arrow-points.
My womb-board is beautiful to proud warriors,
Who may remember what I thrust through my mouth.
What am I?
Protector of the people? Vaccine! Oh wait, it has to fit the clues and exist in Anglo Saxon times. Back to pondering. 😜
Perhaps a weapons chest.
If the answer holds the weapons it gives us clues to solving the issue.
voice/words/speech
Close. What’s the “chest” that holds voice/words/speech that protects the people?
The treasure chest of Shakespeare
Shake -a- spear
The goddess Frige, whose constellation is Orion’s belt.
But Richard, today isn’t Friday.😜
Looking at the cultural context of Anglo-Saxons is a good idea. Frige is not the answer. What is one of the main contributions of Anglo-Saxon culture?
Looking within the cultural context of the Anglo-Saxons is a good idea. Frige is not the answer, however. What is a major contribution of the Anglo-Saxon culture to the more modern world?
Reminds me of the tales of the Gundestrup Cauldron – wounded warriors in full battle gear in, healed, and sent out whole again.
Such a cauldron could hold the mix of these sorts of weapons and warriors but then to what result? Clue: “War is not the answer.”
Your hints make me think of a mead hall.
The mead hall is where the “protection of the people” could be used.
So now you make me think of something like Aethelberht’s law book, Textus Roffensis, but that seems too obscure.
Aethelberht’s Textus Roffensis is a book I don’t know, nor Lola either. We agree it would be too obscure. The more general answer exists within your guess.
So…..Domesday Book?
The plowed earth.
It would have helped the people understand what earth was where and what would be done with it and who could do it.
A ship
This is a partial answer to yesterday’s riddle. But today it doesn’t work. With a longship coming on land to raid, all the battle weapons are spit forth. But the riddle also gives the opposite clue: swallowed.
Truth
And nothing but….
A shield.
Being a shield of the people is one of the functions of the answer.
Perhaps bees in a beehive?
What a creative, beautiful answer, David. It doesn’t quite work…. please realize that all the swallowing and spitting forth is a function of those who use the answer.
A bard.
I’m thinking that too, Richard! The Anglo-Saxon scop telling stories in the mead hall. He is filled with old treasures (stories) that he spits forth (recites). The womb-board is his word-hoard.
A fire
Fire is much on the minds of our Colorado neighbors and friends. Fire is a protector of people gathered around it for warmth, but it is not the answer to the riddle.
How about the medicine man or the medicine wheel. Got me thinking way to hard Charles ease up on us.
Mary says: I have tried several times to send my response to Riddle 5 but it keeps saying it can’t be sent. I am sending it by email to Chuck.
I see a steamer trunk that passengers used as they crossed oceans to new continents. I am looking at mine – it has metal and wooden bands. There are decorative copper pieces securing the corners, leather handles and metal locks.
The description is important – it’s like the cover of the answer to the riddle. And the contents did cross oceans and helped form the laws of the newly explored continents. But a packed steamer trunk is very specific to individuals, and the answer to this riddle is universal.
It’s great that the mead hall leads us to the bard/scope/medicine man. These are the people holding the oral tradition, those that kept the history and the laws alive to protect the people through multiple generations. (Think about the first five books of the Old Testament – a similar historic example.) These proud warriors declare (thrust through my mouth) the law. I think of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
A misdirection is getting the riddle solvers to think about literal weapons – war weapons.
The current answer to the riddle is Law Book. In the first days of writing the laws down, the book had a “belt” around it as Shirley thought about in her early answer, naming a specific example.
Tomorrow is the last riddle – I don’t know if you will find that it goes easy on you or not. But I’m looking forward to the discussion.
I’m afraid I’m not going to fare so well on this one. The bands & jewels reference + spitting forth terror by day (and not at night?) were problematic…1st thought = some kind of ship; 2nd = castles or gothic cathedrals (but those were invented elsewhere); 3rd…I’ll take a “stab” on the Dictionary.
Thanks for your answer – if you take a look at all the comments you’ll see Dictionary is an interesting guess. A dictionary is a record of words and their meanings. The traditional answer is Law Book. Your answer came after I chose to take the bard/scope/medicine man guesses. I think it’s interesting to think of them as early lawyers; they “memorized” massive amounts of information. Legal decisions on all manner of matters were recalled and recited as precedent decisions during the yearly meetings where these Things were discussed (little play on words here).