I have fire in my belly, but holes in my sides or head. My gift climbs upwards although I swing from side to side. Many have held me over millenia in Greece, in Rome, in England, in France, the nations of the Americas, Russia, Poland, and many more. I may be beaten of brass or … More Thirty Sixth Riddle
In darkness I lie, buried in earth in seasons past. I may lie sleeping for years before springing to life. When warmed by sol I will arise. My strength, size, and fame will outstrip my humble origins. I may feed the honey bee, aid the physician, or delight the lover. My beauty may touch old … More Thirty Fifth Riddle
I can cause the most beautiful and the best to stumble. I ruin good deeds, make foolish the one who gives me voice, tire even the closest friends of the one giving me. I am empty air or vain words when all is said and done. Good men will never give me voice, though others … More Thirty Fourth Riddle
My tale is a dry whisper, yet I sound loudly in secret places. I can stir up a revolution or help an old lady pass the time. I have leaves but am not a tree. I may be sold, borrowed, or burned. Neither parchment nor paper, spine nor case, mark nor worm are strangers to … More Thirty Third Riddle
I am given at birth, at baptism, to the tonsured monk, and to the marker of death. I can be forgotten, erased, or changed; yet I can never be effaced. I am often forgotten by all mortal men who walk the earth. Everybody who walks the earth has one, it is the rare man who … More Thirty Second Riddle
I have held the greatest of weapons aloft, the one by which death was conquered, when St. Eustace saw me. I feed wolf, man, and raven. I am not a predator but I often kill the unwary. I may run in a herd or by my lonesome. In deepest cold I even eat bark, though … More Thirty First Riddle
“Want to hear a joke about a rhetorical question?”-Mr. N. Brennan (quoted from memory) “What question?”-Mr. Johnson
I can strike a million men at once, or more, although I come singly. I cannot be felt, seen, heard, smelled, or tasted. I came after the fall of man and am a curse and an inward pain. Loving company banishes me, but my sting may yet be felt in the midst of a thousand … More Twenty Ninth Riddle
I can grace a king or a farmer. My way is earthy and yet can climb high mountains, plumb the depths of the sea, or fly through the air with any human companion. Those who live with me in their hearts will be exalted beyond measure, yet never claim their due in this life or … More Twenty Eighth Riddle
I cannot be touched, caged, heard, smelled, or impeded. I can help man, woman, or child survive under the earth, below the sea, rocking on a boat, alone in the desert, or in the deepest throes of depression. Women have been named for me, the group of me consigned to me forlorn charged first into … More Twenty Seventh Riddle
