Folk Groups And Folklore Genres: An Introduction

Chapter 8. Riddles and Proverbs

1:1 1:1 1:1 .:. Chapter 8 Riddles and Proverbs F. A. de Caro I:. 1:1 I:. Readers of J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel 'fhe Hobbit may recall Bilbo Baggins's dangerous encounter with Gollum in a dark and damp underground cavern where the latter lives. The hobbit, Bilbo, and his companions, the wizard Gandalf and a troop ofdwarves, on their way to capture a treasure guarded by a dragon, are being stalked by goblins. The goblins swoop down, Bilbo is knocked unconscious and wakes up alone in the cave, where he soon runs into the sinister, slithery Gollum, who desires to make a meal of Bilbo. The two enter into deadly combat, not physical combat, but a war of words and wits. They exchange riddles, each posing and answering in turn. If Bilbo misses an answer, Gollum suggests, the little hobbit will be devoured. What has roots as nobody sees, Is taller than trees, Up, up it goes, And yet never grows? asks Gollum, but Bilbo correctly answers, "Mountain, I suppose," and comes back with: Thirty white horses on a red hill, First they champ, 175 Then they stamp, Then they stand still. F. A. de Caro Gollum is not outfoxed, however, and says, "Teeth! Teeth!" and counterposes: Voiceless it cries, Wingless flutters, Toothless bites, Mouthless mutters. This riddle competition is, ofcourse, a fictional one in a much loved literary work,l but it may serve to demonstrate something about riddles as a folklore genre. Folklorists try to look at folklore in context, and the fictional context just given approximates in some ways some of the real social contexts of riddling (the exchanging of riddles). Riddling and riddle competitions are known in many of the world's cultures, and this exchange from Tolkien's novel is by no means the only example found in literature or folk literature. There is Samson's riddle in the Bible. In the Oedipus myth, Oedipus saves Thebes and becomes king when he answers the riddle of the Sphinx. In some folk narratives characters may even save their lives by posing a "neck riddle," one based on knowledge which only the character has and which an opponent, who would otherwise kill him, cannot guess (it is actually a "neck'saving" riddle). That, incidentally, is partly how Bilbo saves himself from Gollum in the end. This kind of riddle is at the center of the following English folktale (an example of a widespread tale type): 176 There was once a lady, very beautiful and wellborn. For some reason or other she was condemned to die a cruel death. She pleaded her case, and her beauty and her great goodness touched the judges, till they so far 'relaxed their severity, as to promise that she should save her neck if she could propose ariddle which they could not answer in three days. She was given a day to prepare. They came to her in her cell to know the riddle. She said: FOLK GROUPS AND FOLKLORE GENRES Love I sit Love I stand; Love I hold Fast in hand. I see Love, Love sees not me. Riddle me that Or hanged I'll be. The judges could not guess, so she was acquitted. Then she gave them the explanation. She had a dog called "Love." She had killed it, and with its skin had made socks for her shoes - on these she stood; gloves for her hands - and these she held; a seat for her chair - on that she sat; she looked at her gloves and she saw Love; but Love saw her no more.2 Riddling in narrative presents an interesting topic to which we will have reason to return, but first we must address the riddle itself as a folklore form. For example, what exactly is a riddle from the folklorist's standpoint? In ordinary speech, of course, the word can mean a puzzle or something mysterious or difficult to understand. In folklore studies, the riddle is a particular verbal genre which consists of a question or an implied question and an answer to that question. One person poses the question and another tries to answer it. However, the riddle is more complicated than that, and a more precise definition is called for, though folklorists have argued over what the best definition should be. One definition proposed by two folklorists says that the riddle is"a traditional verbal...