The document is a riddle poem from the Exeter Book, a 10th century manuscript. The poem describes something that has had its life and strength taken away, been wetted and dipped in water, had its hair removed in the sun, been cut by a knife to remove impurities, been folded by fingers, been marked by bird droppings on its brown surface, been covered by a good man with boards and stretched skin, been adorned with gold, and decorated with woven wire. It asks the reader to ask for its name.

1. Exeter Book Riddle 26 An enemy came and took away my life And my strength also in the world; then wetted me, Dipped me in water; then took me thence; Placed me in the sun, where I lost all my hair. The knife ’ s edge cut me--its impurities ground away; Fingers folded me. And the bird ’ s delight With swift drops made frequent traces Over the brown surface; swallowed the tree-dye With a measure of liquid; travelling across me, Left a dark track. A good man covered me With protecting boards, with stretched skin over me; Adorned me with gold. Then the work of smiths Decorated me with strands of woven wire. Now may the ornaments and the red dye And the precious possessions everywhere honor The Guardian of peoples. It were otherwise folly. … Ask me my name… (Translation by Paull F. Baum) Exeter Cathedral Library 3501, folio 107r

2. Exeter Book Riddle 26 An enemy came and took away my life And my strength also in the world ; then wetted me, Dipped me in water; then took me thence; Placed me in the sun, where I lost all my hair. The knife ’ s edge cut me--its impurities ground away; Fingers folded me. And the bird ’ s delight With swift drops made frequent traces Over the brown surface; swallowed the tree-dye With a measure of liquid; travelling across me, Left a dark track. A good man covered me With protecting boards, with stretched skin over me; Adorned me with gold. Then the work of smiths Decorated me with strands of woven wire. Now may the ornaments and the red dye And the precious possessions everywhere honor The Guardian of peoples. It were otherwise folly. … Ask me my name… (Translation by Paull F. Baum) Exeter Cathedral Library 3501, folio 107r

3. Exeter Book Riddle 26 An enemy came and took away my life And my strength also in the world ; then wetted me, Dipped me in water; then took me thence; Placed me in the sun, where I lost all my hair. The knife ’ s edge cut me--its impurities ground away; Fingers folded me. And the bird ’ s delight With swift drops made frequent traces Over the brown surface; swallowed the tree-dye With a measure of liquid; travelling across me, Left a dark track. A good man covered me With protecting boards, with stretched skin over me; Adorned me with gold. Then the work of smiths Decorated me with strands of woven wire. Now may the ornaments and the red dye And the precious possessions everywhere honor The Guardian of peoples. It were otherwise folly. … Ask me my name… (Translation by Paull F. Baum)

7. Exeter Book, folio 106v.

8. wax writing tablet Wax tablet from Novgorod, Russia (11th c.)

9. Exeter Book Riddle 26 An enemy came and took away my life And my strength also in the world; then wetted me, Dipped me in water; then took me thence; Placed me in the sun, where I lost all my hair. The knife ’s edge cut me--its impurities ground away; Fingers folded me. And the bird ’s delight With swift drops made frequent traces Over the brown surface; swallowed the tree-dye With a measure of liquid; travelling across me, Left a dark track. A good man covered me With protecting boards, with stretched skin over me; Adorned me with gold. Then the work of smiths Decorated me with strands of woven wire. Now may the ornaments and the red dye And the precious possessions everywhere honor The Guardian of peoples. It were otherwise folly. … Ask me my name… (Translation by Paull F. Baum)

10. Exeter Book Riddle 26 An enemy came and took away my life And my strength also in the world; then wetted me, Dipped me in water; then took me thence; Placed me in the sun, where I lost all my hair. The knife ’s edge cut me--its impurities ground away; Fingers folded me. And the bird ’s delight With swift drops made frequent traces Over the brown surface; swallowed the tree-dye With a measure of liquid; travelling across me, Left a dark track. A good man covered me With protecting boards, with stretched skin over me; Adorned me with gold. Then the work of smiths Decorated me with strands of woven wire. Now may the ornaments and the red dye And the precious possessions everywhere honor The Guardian of peoples. It were otherwise folly. … Ask me my name… (Translation by Paull F. Baum)

11. “ Hair and Flesh ”

12. Exeter Book Riddle 26 An enemy came and took away my life And my strength also in the world; then wetted me, Dipped me in water; then took me thence; Placed me in the sun, where I lost all my hair. The knife ’ s edge cut me--its impurities ground away; Fingers folded me. And the bird ’ s delight With swift drops made frequent traces Over the brown surface; swallowed the tree-dye With a measure of liquid; travelling across me, Left a dark track. A good man covered me With protecting boards, with stretched skin over me; Adorned me with gold. Then the work of smiths Decorated me with strands of woven wire. Now may the ornaments and the red dye And the precious possessions everywhere honor The Guardian of peoples. It were otherwise folly. … Ask me my name… (Translation by Paull F. Baum) “ circulus ”

13. An enemy came and took away my life And my strength also in the world; then wetted me, Dipped me in water; then took me thence; Placed me in the sun, where I lost all my hair. The knife ’ s edge cut me--its impurities ground away; Fingers folded me. And the bird ’ s delight With swift drops made frequent traces Over the brown surface; swallowed the tree-dye With a measure of liquid; travelling across me, Left a dark track. A good man covered me With protecting boards, with stretched skin over me; Adorned me with gold. Then the work of smiths Decorated me with strands of woven wire. Now may the ornaments and the red dye And the precious possessions everywhere honor The Guardian of peoples. It were otherwise folly. … Ask me my name… (Translation by Paull F. Baum) ‘ lunellum ’

14. Exeter Book Riddle 26 An enemy came and took away my life And my strength also in the world; then wetted me, Dipped me in water; then took me thence; Placed me in the sun, where I lost all my hair. The knife ’ s edge cut me--its impurities ground away; Fingers folded me. And the bird ’ s delight With swift drops made frequent traces Over the brown surface; swallowed the tree-dye With a measure of liquid; travelling across me, Left a dark track. A good man covered me With protecting boards, with stretched skin over me; Adorned me with gold. Then the work of smiths Decorated me with strands of woven wire. Now may the ornaments and the red dye And the precious possessions everywhere honor The Guardian of peoples. It were otherwise folly. … Ask me my name… (Translation by Paull F. Baum)

15. Exeter Book Riddle 26 An enemy came and took away my life And my strength also in the world; then wetted me, Dipped me in water; then took me thence; Placed me in the sun, where I lost all my hair. The knife ’s edge cut me--its impurities ground away; Fingers folded me . And the bird ’s delight With swift drops made frequent traces Over the brown surface; swallowed the tree-dye With a measure of liquid; travelling across me, Left a dark track. A good man covered me With protecting boards, with stretched skin over me; Adorned me with gold. Then the work of smiths Decorated me with strands of woven wire. Now may the ornaments and the red dye And the precious possessions everywhere honor The Guardian of peoples. It were otherwise folly. … Ask me my name… (Translation by Paull F. Baum) quires or gatherings Rowan Watson, Illuminated Manuscripts and their Makers (London: V&A Publications, 2003), 63.

16. Why Are Books Shaped The Way They Are?

19. Hildebert and the pessime mus ‘ wretched mouse ’ Prague, Metropoloitan Library, A. XXI/1, folio 153v. (12th century)

20. An enemy came and took away my life And my strength also in the world; then wetted me, Dipped me in water; then took me thence; Placed me in the sun, where I lost all my hair. The knife ’ s edge cut me--its impurities ground away; Fingers folded me. And the bird ’ s delight With swift drops made frequent traces Over the brown surface; swallowed the tree-dye With a measure of liquid; travelling across me, Left a dark track. A good man covered me With protecting boards, with stretched skin over me; Adorned me with gold. Then the work of smiths Decorated me with strands of woven wire. Now may the ornaments and the red dye And the precious possessions everywhere honor The Guardian of peoples. It were otherwise folly. … Ask me my name… (Translation by Paull F. Baum)

21. oak galls An enemy came and took away my life And my strength also in the world; then wetted me, Dipped me in water; then took me thence; Placed me in the sun, where I lost all my hair. The knife ’ s edge cut me--its impurities ground away; Fingers folded me. And the bird ’ s delight With swift drops made frequent traces Over the brown surface; swallowed the tree-dye With a measure of liquid; travelling across me, Left a dark track. A good man covered me With protecting boards, with stretched skin over me; Adorned me with gold. Then the work of smiths Decorated me with strands of woven wire. Now may the ornaments and the red dye And the precious possessions everywhere honor The Guardian of peoples. It were otherwise folly. … Ask me my name… (Translation by Paull F. Baum) Image taken from Christopher de Hamel, Medieval Craftsmen: Scribes and Illuminators (Toronto: University of Toronto Press,1992).

22. Christopher de Hamel, Medieval Craftsmen: Scribes and Illuminators (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992). Book of Hours (circa. 1450). Photograph by Patrick Murphy. An enemy came and took away my life And my strength also in the world; then wetted me, Dipped me in water; then took me thence; Placed me in the sun, where I lost all my hair. The knife ’s edge cut me--its impurities ground away; Fingers folded me. And the bird ’s delight With swift drops made frequent traces Over the brown surface; swallowed the tree-dye With a measure of liquid; travelling across me, Left a dark track. A good man covered me With protecting boards, with stretched skin over me; Adorned me with gold. Then the work of smiths Decorated me with strands of woven wire. Now may the ornaments and the red dye And the precious possessions everywhere honor The Guardian of peoples. It were otherwise folly. … Ask me my name… (Translation by Paull F. Baum)

23. An enemy came and took away my life And my strength also in the world; then wetted me, Dipped me in water; then took me thence; Placed me in the sun, where I lost all my hair. The knife ’ s edge cut me--its impurities ground away; Fingers folded me. And the bird ’ s delight With swift drops made frequent traces Over the brown surface; swallowed the tree-dye With a measure of liquid; travelling across me, Left a dark track. A good man covered me With protecting boards, with stretched skin over me; Adorned me with gold. Then the work of smiths Decorated me with strands of woven wire. Now may the ornaments and the red dye And the precious possessions everywhere honor The Guardian of peoples. It were otherwise folly. … Ask me my name… (Translation by Paull F. Baum) Gold leaf Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS Ashmole 1511, 6v

24. Exeter Book Riddle 26 An enemy came and took away my life And my strength also in the world; then wetted me, Dipped me in water; then took me thence; Placed me in the sun, where I lost all my hair. The knife ’s edge cut me--its impurities ground away; Fingers folded me. And the bird ’s delight With swift drops made frequent traces Over the brown surface; swallowed the tree-dye With a measure of liquid; travelling across me, Left a dark track. A good man covered me With protecting boards, with stretched skin over me ; Adorned me with gold. Then the work of smiths Decorated me with strands of woven wire. Now may the ornaments and the red dye And the precious possessions everywhere honor The Guardian of peoples. It were otherwise folly. … Ask me my name… (Translation by Paull F. Baum)

25. parchment durability Book of Hours (circa. 1450) Homeric Dictionary (1870)

26. peat bog psalter

27. Whatever happened to medieval manuscripts?

29. British Library, Cotton Vitellius A.xv: “ The Beowulf -Manuscript ”

31. ð w þ r s f g ash d