The, Atticus Riddle is a translation from the Exeter Riddle book. Copyright belongs to Atticus, but usage is free as long as you credit Atticus Bookshop and Emily Spinach.




Exeter Book Riddle 47 ​(often numbered 45)   Trans. Emily Spinach for Atticus

 A moth eats words. I found that
An odd kind of wonder, when I heard it.
So the worm swallows up the songs we write,
Little thief in the dark, devours great speeches
And everything they’re built on. Little stealing guest –

Moððe word frǣt. Mē þæt þūhte
wrǣtlicu wyrd, þā ic þæt wundor gefrægn,
þæt se wyrm forswealg wera gied sumes,
þēof in þȳstro þrymfæstne cwide
ond þæs strangan staþol. Stælgiest ne wæs
wihte þȳ glēawra þe hē þām wordum swealg.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exeter_Book_Riddle_47
https://oldenglishpoetry.camden.rutgers.edu/exeter-book-riddles/