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Literary Criticism Medieval

Truth Is Trickiest

The Case for Ambiguity in the Exeter Book Riddles

by (author) Jennifer Neville

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Jul 2024
Category
Medieval, Medieval
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781487552527
    Publish Date
    Jul 2024
    List Price
    $95.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781487552558
    Publish Date
    Jul 2024
    List Price
    $95.00

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Description

At the end of the tenth-century English manuscript the Exeter Book, there is a collection of almost one hundred riddles. They are notable for many reasons, but one feature in particular has challenged modern readers: their lack of solutions. In Truth Is Trickiest, Jennifer Neville argues that the absence of solutions, rather than being an unfortunate accident, uncovers an essential quality of these texts.

 

In opposition to the general expectation that a successfully solved riddle will have one correct answer, Neville argues that the Exeter Book riddles are written to generate multiple solutions. The correct response to an Exeter Book riddle is not a single, elegant solution but instead an ongoing process of interpretation that leads readers to question what they think they know.

 

Truth Is Trickiest contextualizes its readings within the larger field of Old English poetry, early medieval material culture, and Anglo-Latin riddles. The book pursues the central issue of interpretation in relation to social values, craftsmanship, hierarchical social structures, violence, irony, humour, and sexuality. It concludes with a full list of previously proposed solutions to document the history of the ongoing argument that the Exeter Book riddles have provoked.

About the author

Jennifer Neville is a reader in early medieval English literature at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Jennifer Neville's profile page