Skip to content

Booksellers & Trade Customers: Sign up for online bulk buying at trade.atlanticbooks.com for wholesale discounts

Booksellers: Create Account on our B2B Portal for wholesale discounts

Truth Is Trickiest: The Case for Ambiguity in the Exeter Book Riddles

by Jennifer Neville
Sold out
₹9,928.00
Original price ₹9,928.00
Original price ₹9,928.00
₹9,928.00
Current price ₹9,928.00

Imported Edition - Ships in 18-21 Days

Free Shipping in India on orders above Rs. 500

Request Bulk Quantity Quote
+91
Book cover type: Hardcover
  • ISBN13: 9781487552527
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • Subject: N/A
  • Publisher: University of Toronto Press
  • Publisher Imprint: University of Toronto Press
  • Publication Date:
  • Pages: 392
  • Original Price: USD 95.0
  • Language: English
  • Edition: N/A
  • Item Weight: 499 grams
  • BISAC Subject(s): Medieval

At the end of the tenth-century English manuscript the Exeter Book, there is a collection of almost one hundred riddles. They are notable for many reasons, but one feature in particular has challenged modern readers: their lack of solutions. In Truth Is Trickiest, Jennifer Neville argues that the absence of solutions, rather than being an unfortunate accident, uncovers an essential quality of these texts.


In opposition to the general expectation that a successfully solved riddle will have one correct answer, Neville argues that the Exeter Book riddles are written to generate multiple solutions. The correct response to an Exeter Book riddle is not a single, elegant solution but instead an ongoing process of interpretation that leads readers to question what they think they know.


Truth Is Trickiest contextualizes its readings within the larger field of Old English poetry, early medieval material culture, and Anglo-Latin riddles. The book pursues the central issue of interpretation in relation to social values, craftsmanship, hierarchical social structures, violence, irony, humour, and sexuality. It concludes with a full list of previously proposed solutions to document the history of the ongoing argument that the Exeter Book riddles have provoked.

Neville, Jennifer: - Jennifer Neville is a reader in early medieval English literature at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Trusted for over 49 years

Family Owned Company

Secure Payment

All Major Credit Cards/Debit Cards/UPI & More Accepted

New & Authentic Products

India's Largest Distributor

Need Support?

Whatsapp Us