%0 Journal Article
%A Carsten P. Haas
%D 2025
%C Berlin, Germany
%I Peter Lang Verlag
%J Mediaevistik
%@ 2199-806X
%N 1
%V 38
%T Jennifer Neville, Truth is Trickiest: The Case for Ambiguity in the Exeter Book Riddles. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2024, 376 pp.
%R 10.3726/med.2025.01.37
%U https://www.peterlang.com/document/1673064
%X As the title indicates, this study focuses on the Old English riddles of the Exeter Book, with a particular emphasis on the ambiguity one faces when approaching these texts. The 95 riddles of the Exeter Book differ from the Anglo-Latin riddling tradition, out of which they emerged, in that they are unaccompanied by written answers. Jennifer Neville sees in this an advantage, rather than a limitation. She suggests that this lack of explicit solutions creates a different riddling experience, in which the goal was not the methodical finding of a definite solution, but rather the enjoyment of sustained thought and debate across a range of possible answers. Neville demonstrates the value of this approach throughout her book, with a particular emphasis on the ways that these riddles use various tropes to inform, trick, or mislead their readership.
%K jennifer, neville, truth, trickiest, case, ambiguity, exeter, book, riddles, toronto, university, press