Anglo-Saxon Riddles of the Exeter Book/Annotated/52

The manuscript has above this the rune for B, either for Burg, &lsquo;town,&rsquo; or for Ballista. If the former, the answer is a Town defended by its inhabitants. Above the rune for B, moreover, is the rune for L, and this points to Ballista, an engine for throwing missiles, as the solution, favored by recent editors. Since both answers would fit, the ambiguity is probably intentional, to promote argument.