Riddles and Folktales

[Raskolnikov]

We need a thread for riddles and folktales akin to the Great Quotes thread, an ongoing collection of quality riddles and other strange puzzles and conundrums. Britannica defines the riddle as a “deliberately enigmatic or ambiguous question requiring a thoughtful and often witty answer. The riddle is a form of guessing game that has been a part of the folklore of most cultures from ancient times. Western scholars generally recognize two main kinds of riddle: the descriptive riddle and the shrewd or witty question,” while Wikipedia says, “A riddle is a statement, question, or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved.” With such intelligent and striving minds on the forum, many of you may already have an extensive arsenal of riddles at your disposal. I do not but have always admired the craft of the mind-bending puzzle. Most of us are familiar with the riddles between Gollum and Bilbo in The Hobbit. This would be good starting point. And please supply answers.

The folktales I’m hoping to pair with the riddles are the tales that keep in line with the premise of the riddle while expanding that premise and taking it to the next level. Let me explain. I was deep in the bowels of the earth in Australia one night in 1994. I was 24 at the time and with a large group of people from all over the world. Three hours south of Perth, we were picking grapes together at the beautiful vineyards in the Margaret River area. We all lived in the same caravan park (campground) for three months and became a large extended family. On our last night together, we grabbed guitars, drums, a boombox, coolers, assorted paraphernalia and hiked a good thirty minutes down into the earth to one of the biggest caves in the region. It had a sand floor like most beaches, a domed ceiling high above like a magnificent stone cathedral, and was nearly three football fields in circumference. We placed candles around the perimeter, set up right in the middle and proceeded with our farewell celebration smoking, drinking, singing, even some dancing. With this magically delicious candlelight enveloping the cave and transporting us to an ethereal dimension, a great Dane, a tan, hulking, perfect specimen of a man that all the girls in town fought over, who’d been following the picking season around the country for two years with his brother and two friends, proceeded to tell the most magical tales, lengthy quests and adventures that finished with an open ended question which he casually directed to whomever he chose as his prey. Sometimes it was a multiple choice question with three possible answers, each one meant to reveal deeper aspects of your true character. And these questions really put you on the spot because they came couched in ethical dilemmas and moral quandaries, ancient enigmas like a vision quest for the holy grail meant both to instruct and to reveal something about your inner being. It being so long ago, and because they were so intricately woven and detailed, like legends passed down from generation to generation, and because I have the memory of a goldfish, I cannot for the life of me remember a single one.

Since that night, I’ve longed to hear such elaborate riddle-like folktales again. No luck. Of course, not knowing what to even call such elaborate-and-open-ended-riddles hasn’t really helped me much, hence the use of the word “folktale.” Hoping some of you wise and spiritually minded individuals, this includes non-members, might be of assistance in giving these expertly crafted tales a name, or even better, posting a few. Hope some of you will join on this quest to catch the Riddler…

Gollum: What has roots as nobody sees, is taller than tree, Up, up, up it goes, and yet never grows?

SPOILERAnswer: Mountain

Bilbo: Thirty white horses on a red hill, first they champ, then they stamp, then they stand still.

SPOILERA: Teeth

Gollum: Voiceless it cries, wingless flutters, toothless bites, mouthless mutters.

SPOILERWind

Bilbo: An eye in a blue face, saw an eye in a green face. ‘That eye is like to this eye,’ said the first eye, ‘but in low place not in high place.’

SPOILERSun shining on daisies

Gollum: It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, cannot be heard, cannot be smelt. It lies behind stars and under hills, and empty holes it fills. It comes first and follows after,
ends life, kills laughter.

SPOILERDark

Bilbo: A box without hinges, key or lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid.

SPOILEREgg

Gollum: Alive without breath, as cold as death; never thirsty, ever drinking, all in mail never clinking.

SPOILERFish

Bilbo: No-legs lay on one-leg, two leg sat near on three legs, four legs got some.

SPOILERAnswer: Fish on a little one-legged table, man at table sitting on a three-legged stool, the cat gets the bones.

Gollum: This thing all things devours: Birds, beasts, trees, flowers; gnaws iron, bites steel; grinds hard stones to meal; slays king, ruins town, and beats high mountain down.

SPOILERTime

Bilbo: What have I got in my pocket?

SPOILERAnswer: The Ring.



(Note to mods: Maybe a moderator could help with a creative way to hide the answer while one is reading the question. A reveal or display answer button? Maybe we could just write the one word and short answers backwards, while the longer ones just write out because you can’t see the answer at a glance? Open to suggestions.)

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Like this?

Why did the invisible man quit his job?

SPOILERHe couldn't see himself doing it.

(click on the Spoiler button)


****
I added a little spoiler tag.

Just wrap the spoiler tag around the answer you want to hide.

E.g.

Why did the invisible man quit his job?

[spoiler]He couldn't see himself doing it.[/spoiler]

[I've taken the liberty of editing your op, inserting the spoiler tag where appropriate).

[Raskolnikov]

Posted by Mark (Star Mariner) (here)
Like this?

Why did the invisible man quit his job?

SPOILERHe couldn't see himself doing it.

(click on the Spoiler button)


****
I added a little spoiler tag.

Just wrap the spoiler tag around the answer you want to hide.

E.g.

Why did the invisible man quit his job?

[spoiler]He couldn't see himself doing it.[/spoiler]

[I've taken the liberty of editing your op, inserting the spoiler tag where appropriate).

Thank you kindly Mark, that's perfect. I'm not seeing the spoiler tag, maybe it's invisible too? (I copied and pasted from above.) I hope people can have a little fun with this one, one today, one next month, whatever, but I'm really hoping someone, somewhere, another great Dane perhaps, will post one of those amazing cave man riddle-tales someday. Really wanna pin the tale on that riddle. Thanks again. Here's one I quickly pulled off the internet to keep the ball rolling.

Poor people have it. Rich people need it. You die if you eat it.

SPOILERNothing

[rgray222]

OK, I'll play



A woman shoots her husband, then holds him underwater for five minutes. Next, she hangs him. Right after, they enjoy a lovely dinner. Explain.

SPOILERShe took a picture of him and developed it in her dark room.


Then of course there is this old favorite of my children from many years ago.


What is black and white and red all over?

SPOILERNewspaper

[Raskolnikov]

Mark, why does your red "spoiler" alert conjure up images like this?



Just playin', thanks again.

What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years? (Hint, it's not Bravado)

SPOILERThe letter M

[Raskolnikov]

What word in the English language does the following: The first two letters signify a male, the first three letters signify a female, the first four letters signify a great, while the entire world signifies a great woman. What is the word?

SPOILERHeroine

A word I know, six letters it contains, remove one letter, and twelve remain. What am I?

SPOILERDozens

[Raskolnikov]

They can be harbored, but few hold water. You can nurse them, but only by holding them against someone else. You can carry them, but not with your arms. You can bury them, but not in the earth. What am I?

SPOILERA grudge