Page:Anglo-Saxon Riddles of the Exeter Book (1963).djvu/46

 Above this in the manuscript stands the rune for Sun (sigel or Sol). The association of Christ and the sun is a commonplace.

My garment is darkish. Bright decorations, red and radiant, I have on my raiment. I mislead the stupid and stimulate the foolish toward unwise ways. Others I restrain from profitable paths. But I know not at all that they, maddened, robbed of their senses, astray in their actions &mdash;that they praise to all men my wicked ways. Woe to them then when the Most High holds out his dearest of gifts if they do not desist first from their folly.

The solution is apparently Wine and a reproof of its excesses. Cf. 59 (K-D 27), Mead, and 60 (K-D 28), John Barleycorn. Ll. 5 ff. &ldquo;I know not that&hellip;&rdquo; seem to mean &ldquo;it is no affair of mine that&hellip;.&rdquo; L. 9 has given trouble; probably &ldquo;Woe to them when brought to the Last Judgment.&rdquo; Or &ldquo;dearest of gifts&rdquo; may mean the gift of salvation.