Word Games are a sign of intelligence

I’m keeping my commitment to blog every second Tuesday. Today instead of Farm Lore, it’s Riddles—we loved them as kids. Good ones still intrigue us.

Dictionary.com defines them as, “a question or statement framed to exercise one’s ingenuity in answering or discovering its meaning.” Google actually claims, “Word games train the brain in a way that’s similar to how physical activity trains the body.” In fourth grade a popular one asked, “What’s black and white and red all over?” If our hearer correctly answer, “An embarrassed zebra,” we cheated and said, “No, a newspaper, yuk yuk,” (which was not correct.)

We’re inclined to think riddles are modern, that folks in olden times weren’t as clever or were too busy eking out an existence to play word games. The truth is good riddles have been around and enjoyed a long time.

England’s Exeter Book from the 900’s A.D.

Many are found in the Exeter Book, an amazing collection of handwritten verse from Anglo-Saxon England from the late 900’s A.D. The poems vary from one line to 25 pages. Try to solve this one without looking ahead.

A moth ate words. It seemed to me

a strange occasion, when I inquired about that wonder,

that the worm swallowed the riddle of certain men,

a thief in the darkness, the glorious pronouncement

and its strong foundation. The stealing guest was not

one whit the wiser, for all those words he swallowed.

If you guessed a Bookworm, you’re right.

Besides calling people who love books bookworms, they are also tiny beetles or larvae that eat leather bindings, paper, and even the wooden shelves books stand on. This picture shows evidence of their work.

What was your favorite riddle as a kid? Please share. Do you still like them?

This one’s great: “What can run but can’t walk? Water or a river. A river can run but not walk. It has a mouth but never talks (although it babbles). It has a head but never weeps, has a bed (riverbed) but never sleeps.

Now I’ve got myself on a riddle kick and will recall more and keep laughing until the next time I post. Have a great two weeks!