A Tangled Magic

“Trust is the mother of deceit.”

—Medieval proverb

“An enemy ended my life, took away

my bodily strength; then he dipped me

in water and drew me out again,

and put me in the sun where I soon shed

all my hair. The knife’s sharp edge

bit into me once my blemishes had been scraped away;

fingers folded me and the bird’s feather

often moved across my brown surface,

sprinkling useful drops; it swallowed the wood-dye

(part of the stream) and again travelled over me,

leaving black tracks. Then a man bound me,

he stretched skin over me and adorned me

with gold; thus I am enriched by the wondrous work

of smiths, wound about with shining metal.”

—Riddle 26, Exeter Book, 10th century

(translated by Kevin Crossley-Holland)