Page:Anglo-Saxon Riddles of the Exeter Book (1963).djvu/45

 with wise minds. Peace and salvation has God offered to every guest who turns the ring. A word then it spoke, the ring to the gathering. It named the Saviour of righteous men. Dumb it brought clearly to their minds the Lord&rsquo;s name and to the sight of their eyes if one could grasp the true meaning of the noble gold. The wounded Lord, do as the wounds of the ring had said. Nor can to the prayer. . . the soul of any man unfulfilled seek the princely city, the castle of heaven. Explain how the wounds of this splendid ring spoke to mortals when there in the hall it was turned and revolved in the hands of the proud.

&ldquo;Who turns the ring&rdquo; (l. 5) probably means: &ldquo;Who passes it along.&rdquo; Two lines are defective. They have been built up by emendation to yield the meaning: &ldquo;The prayer of any man being unfulfilled, his spirit cannot attain to seek God&rsquo;s city, etc.&rdquo; (Tupper). Like the preceding riddle on the same subject, this is not a success. One may suppose that the pious author tried too hard.