Riddles Wisely Expounded

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Riddles Wisely Expounded is Child ballad 1. It exists in several variants.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

A knight puts a woman to test before he marries her (sometimes after seducing her), or a devil disguised as a knight tries to carry them off. The woman knows the answers, and thus either wins the marriage or is free of the devil.

The riddles vary, but typical ones include

  • What is longer than the way? -- love
  • What is deeper than the sea? -- hell
  • What is louder than the horn? -- thunder
  • What is sharper than a thorn? -- hunger
  • What is whiter than milk? -- snow
  • What is softer than silk? -- down
Spoilers end here.

[edit] Modern retellings

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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