TY  - JOUR
AU  - Carsten P. Haas
PY  - 2025
CY  - Berlin, Germany
PB  - Peter Lang Verlag
JF  - Mediaevistik
IS  - 1
VL  - 38
SN  - 2199-806X
TI  - Jennifer Neville, Truth is Trickiest: The Case for Ambiguity in the Exeter Book Riddles. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2024, 376 pp.
DO  - 10.3726/med.2025.01.37
UR  - https://www.peterlang.com/document/1673064
N2  - 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.
KW  - jennifer, neville, truth, trickiest, case, ambiguity, exeter, book, riddles, toronto, university, press
ER  -