Enigmata Saxonica Nuper Inventa Duo

Enigmata Saxonica Nuper Inventa Duo, also called Enigma Saxonicum Nuper ‘Inventum’, is a shared title of two Old English poems written by J.R.R. Tolkien.

First riddle

Meolchwitum sind marmanstane
wagas mine wundrum frætwede;
…
Milky-white are my marble
walls wondrously adorned;

Second riddle

Hæfth Hild Hunecan hwite tunecan,
ond swa read rose hæfth rudige nose;
…
Hild Hunic has a white tunic,
and like a red rose is her ruddy nose;

Etymology

Enigmata Saxonica Nuper Inventa Duo is a Latin phrase meaning "two Saxon riddles newly discovered".

Enigma Saxonicum Nuper ‘Inventum’ is a Latin phrase meaning "Saxon Riddle Newly 'Discovered'".

Background

Tolkien wrote the first of the two riddles no later than June 26 of 1922, when he sent a version of the riddle, with the title Enigmata Saxonica Nuper Inventa Duo to Henry Bradley for entertainment purposes. The second riddle was written around 1923. Both of them were modeled after traditional early English sources such as the ones found in the Exeter Book. They were both first published in June 1923 on page 20 of A Northern Venture: Verses by Members of the Leeds University English School Association.

The manuscript of the first riddle appeared in a leaflet published alongside The Oxford Inklings, a 1999 exhibition by the Museum of Oxford. Both riddles were reprinted on pages 124-5 of The Annotated Hobbit in 2002, where Douglas A. Anderson suggested that the first riddle may be based on the rhyme known as 'In Marble Halls' while the second riddle seems to have been based on the nursery rhyme 'Little Nancy Etticoat / In a white petticoat'.

In 2024, the riddles were reprinted in September as entry 71 in The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien.