Page:Anglo-Saxon Riddles of the Exeter Book (1963).djvu/55

 clears the woodland for his field, the plowman, or the plowshare (&ldquo;the iron which, in the shape of an axe, bears ill-will to the tree&rdquo;). See B. Colgrave, MLR (1937), 281–83. The beak or nose is the plowshare; the wagon is the fore-carriage; the sharp point underneath is the coulter.


 * 1) s33 ##

My head is forged with the hammer, hurt with sharp tools, smoothed by files. I take in my mouth what is set before me when girded with rings  I am forced to strike, hard against hard, pierced from behind, must draw forth what protects at midnight the heart&rsquo;s delight of my own lord. Sometimes I turn backwards my beak, when, protector of treasure, my lord wishes to hold the leavings of those he had driven from life by battle-craft for his own desire.

Key. (Cf. also 75 [K-D 44], which is Key with a difference.) &ldquo;Delight&rdquo; is represented in the manuscript by W, the rune wyn (&lsquo;joy,&rsquo; &lsquo;pride&rsquo;). Ll. 8 ff., &ldquo;open the door so that the lord can stow the plunder of battle.&rdquo;


 * 1) s34 ##

I know a thing with a single foot doing deeds of might. It travels not nor rides much, nor can it fly through the clear air; nor does ship carry it, a boat with nailed planks. It is nevertheless useful to its master at many times. It has a heavy tail and a small head and a long tongue. It has no tooth; part is of iron. It goes through a hollow. It swallows no water, it eats nothing, it desires no fodder. Often notwithstanding