RIDDLES
a list compiled by asimmon at iupui.edu (May 1998)
Riddle:
I can kill people but without me there would be no people.
I was born long ago and will someday die.
I can cause fire and am a magician with water.
I have more brothers than any person.
There is very little that can stop me.
What am I?
Answer: A Celestial Body
Riddle:
What can you put in a barrel to make it lighter?
Answer: A hole
Riddle:
In the day or in the night
all people have seen this sight,
On the ocean or on the plain
most people have seen the same,
On this world and on no other
has been shown to me by my brother,
Some leader once generalized it
but many things have been called it.
What am I?
Answer: A monster
Riddle:
Hickory-Dickory-Dock!
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one
and down did come.
Hickory-Dickory-Dock!
What am I?
Answer: A guillotine
Riddle:
A red cap on my head,
a stone in my throat,
if you tell me the answer,
I'll give you a Groat.
What am I?
Answer: A cherry
Riddle:
I have rivers without water,
Forests without trees,
Mountains without rocks
Towns without houses.
What am I?
Answer: A Map
Riddle:
Ten Men's Strength,
Ten Men's Length,
Ten Men can't break it,
Yet a young boy walks off with it
What am I?
Answer: A rope
Riddle:
I begin eternity,
And end space,
At the end of time,
And in every place,
Last in life,
Second to death,
Never alone,
Found in your breath,
Contained by earth,
Water or flame,
My grandeur so awesome,
Wind dare not tame,
Not in your mind,
Am in your dreams,
Vacant to Kings,
Present to Queens.
What am I?
Answer: The letter "E"
Riddle:
I have many tongues but cannot taste
By me, most things are turned to waste
I crack and snap, yet I stay whole
I may take the largest toll
I assisted all of the first men
And I will pay them back again
Around me, people snuggle and sleep
Yet run when I am released from my keep
I jump around and leap and bound
The cold man wishes I he had found
What am I?
Answer: Fire
Riddle:
My first is in wield, sever bones and marrow.
My second is in blade, forged in cold steel.
My third is in arbalest, and also in arrows.
My fourth is in power, plunged through a shield.
My fifth is in honour, and also in vows
My last will put an end to it all.
What am I?
Answer: Weapon
Riddle:
My first is foremost legally,
My second circles outwardly,
My third leads all in victory,
My fourth ends twice a nominee
My whole is this gates only key.
What am I?
Answer: Love
Riddle:
I turn my head and you may go where you want.
I turn it again, you will stay till you rot.
I have no face, but I live or die
by my crooked teeth
Who am I?
Answer: A Key
Riddle:
I am as strong as seven men.
I am as tall as seven men.
Yet seven men can not stand me on my end.
What am I?
Answer: A Rope
Riddle:
Ten fish I caught without an eye,
and nine without a tail.
Half of eight, and six missing heads,
landed in my pail.
Who can tell me,
as I ask it,
how many fish are in my basket?
Answer: Zero - 10 without the "i" is 0, 9 without it's tail leaves 0, 8<-- divided here leaves twice 0, 6 without it's head leaves 0
Riddle:
High from heav'n her eye looks down,
Constant strife excites her frown;
Winged beings shun her sight,
She puts the youth to instant flight.
The aged too her looks do scout;
Oh! oh! the fugitive cries out.
And by her snares whoe'er is lured
Can never of his sin been cured.
Who am I?
Answer: I don't know the answer so e-mail me if you know the answer
Suggestions Received: wind storm, hurricane, tornado, darkness or night, leaf, ancient (red) dragon, death, moon, sun, arrow, Medusa, vampirism, lycanthropy, goddess of love, Jupiter, justice, bird of prey, Shiva the Destroyer, the Hindu goddess of war, love, gargoyle, dawn, time, Angel of Death, Fate
Riddle:
A handless man had a letter to write,
And he who read it had lost his sight;
The dumb repeated it word for word,
And deaf was the man who listened and heard.
Who am I?
Answer: I don't know the answer so e-mail me if you know the answer
Suggestions Received: silence, troglodyte, imagination, desire, sun, nothing, the one least expected, death, love, tape recorder, faith, riddle, thought, apathy, gossip, contradiction, lie, want, musical note, fight, malediction (curse), evil, human determination, typewriter, cursed scroll, sign language, braille, dream, human brain, cursed scroll, wizard, secret, pain, suffering, curiosity, a problem, nothing, death, fate, prophecy, a blank sheet (or letter), forgetfulness
Riddle:
Man of old, it is told
Would search until he tired,
Not for gold, ne'er be sold,
But what sought he was fire.
Man today, thou mayst say,
Has quite another aim,
In places deep, he did seek,
To find me for his gain!
What am I?
Answer: I don't know the answer so e-mail me if you know the answer
Suggestions Received: knowledge, oil, diamonds, carbon, coal
Riddle:
What kind of ear cannot hear?
What am I?
(Hint: No, the answer is not "Mike Tyson's latest snack".)
Answer: An ear of corn
Riddle:
There is one that has a head without an eye,
And there's one that has an eye without a head.
You may find the answer if you try;
And when all is said,
Half the answer hangs by a thread.
What am I?
Answer: Pins and Needles
Riddle:
Black I am and much admired,
Men seek me until they're tired;
When they find me, break my head,
And take me from my resting bed.
What am I?
Answer: Coal
Riddle:
Who becomes pregnant without conceiving?
Who becomes fat without eating?
Answer: Clouds
Riddle:
In the dark night flies a many-hued phantom.
It soars and spreads its wings
above the gloomy human crowd.
The whole world calls to it,
the whole world implores it.
At dawn the phantom vanishes
to be reborn in every heart.
And every night it is born anew
and every day it dies!
What am I?
Answer: Hope or dreams
Riddle:
Two brothers we are, great burden we bear
By which we are bitterly pressed.
In truth we may say
We are full all the day
But empty we go to our rest.
What am I?
Answer: Shoes (or boots)
Riddle:
Of no use to one
Yet absolute bliss to two.
The small boy gets it for nothing.
The young man has to lie for it.
The old man has to buy it.
The baby's right,
The lover's privilege,
The hypocrite's mask.
To the young girl, faith;
To the married woman, hope;
To the old maid, charity.
What am I?
Answer: A Kiss
Riddle:
A wee wee man
In a red red coat
Staff in my hand
And a stone in my throat.
What am I?
Answer: A Cherry
Riddle:
What runs around a city
but never moves?
What am I?
Answer: A Wall
Riddle:
What is full of holes and holds water?
What am I?
Answer: A Sponge
Riddle:
Iron roof, glass walls
Burns and burns
And never falls.
What am I?
Answer: A Lantern
Riddle:
I cut through evil
like a double edged sword,
And chaos flees at my approach.
Balance I single-handedly upraise,
Through battles fought with heart and mind,
Instead of with my gaze.
What am I?
Answer:Justice
Riddle:
It holds most knowledge that has ever been said;
But is not the brain, is not the head.
To feathers and their masters, 'tis both bane and boon. . .
One empty, and one full.
What am I?
Answer:Paper
Riddle:
It comes only before,
It comes only after,
Rises only in darkness,
But rises only in light.
It is always the same,
But is yet always different.
What am I?
Answer:The moon
Riddle:
A golden treasure that never stays;
The coin whose face gives wealth to all.
Strands, nuggets, and dust of gold
are all bought with its shining grace. . .
And all are more precious than any gleaming metal.
What am I?
Answer:The sun
Riddle:
I run through hills;
I veer around mountains.
I leap over rivers
and crawl through the forests.
Step out your door to find me.
What am I?
Answer:The road
Riddle:
Inside me the adventurous find
Quests and treasures of every kind.
Trolls, goblins, orcs, and more, await
Within my closed walls for
All those that wish to visit me.
Your hands are the key
To secrets untold,
And your mind will unlock the door.
What am I?
Answer:A book
Riddle:
Stronger than steel,
And older than time;
They are more patient than death
and shall stand even when the stars have ceased to shine.
Their strength is embedded
in roots buried deep
Where the sands and frosts of ages
can never hope to touch or reach.
What am I?
Answer:Mountains
Riddle:
Creatures of power, creatures of grace,
Creatures of beauty, creatures of strength.
As for their lives,
they set everything's pace,
For all things must come to live
under their emerald embrace. . .
Either in their life, or in their death.
What am I?
Answer:Trees
Riddle:
As beautiful as the setting sun,
As delicate as the morning dew;
An angel's dusting from the stars
that can turn the Earth into
A frosted moon.
What am I?
Answer:Snow
Riddle:
As destructive as life,
As healing as death;
An institutioner of strife,
Just as prone to bless.
It is all that is good,
Yet with an evil trend;
As it was the beginning of things,
It can also be the end.
What am I?
Answer:Fire, but Love also seems to work (though it was not the intended
Riddle:
I am the part of the bird
that is not in the sky,
Who can drown in the ocean
and yet remain dry.
A last vestige of man
that refuses to die.
In mourning I am tossed
at your feet to lie;
I begin my job early,
devouring your ankles and thighs.
I work my way up,
eating your legs to your waist.
And though around midday away I am chased,
I return quickly,
To savor the arm of my taste.
As evening falls I enter your lungs,
Spiraling down
past your mouth and your tongue.
I feast on your body, your soul, and your mind,
but as darkness falls you shall find
That away I will go, a relief for some;
At least until tomorrow morning comes.
What am I?
Answer:Your shadow
Riddle:
When you look into my face,
I shall never lie;
Instead be but a window into your soul,
whether there light or shadows hide;
As in me many see their deaths
where others see their lives;
In this deny me many try,
but they simply twist their knives;
For though prejudiced to some I may seem,
THE LIE IS THEIR OWN LIVES.
What am I?
Answer: A mirror
Riddle:
Two bodies have I,
though both joined in one.
The more still I stand,
the quicker I run.
What am I?
Answer: An hourglass
Riddle:
You get many of me, but never enough.
After the last one, your life soon will snuff.
You may have one of me but one day a year,
When the last one is gone, your life disappears.
What am I?
Answer: A birthday.
Riddle:
I make you weak at the worst of all times.
I keep you safe, I keep you fine.
I make your hands sweat, and your heart grow cold,
I visit the weak, but seldom the bold.
What am I?
Answer: Fear
Riddle:
Double my number, I'm less than a score,
Half of my number is less than four.
Add one to my double when bakers are near,
Days of the week are still greater, I fear.
What am I?
Answer: Six
Riddle:
I weaken all men for hours each day.
I show you strange visions while you are away.
I take you by night, by day take you back,
None suffer to have me, but do from my lack.
What am I?
Answer: Sleep
Riddle:
There is a house that has every window oriented to North.
There is a bear in front of this house.
What color is the bear?
Answer: The bear is white, because the only house having all its windows oriented to North is a house placed at South Pole. So the bear is white.
Rebuttal: No polar bears live at the south pole! All of them reside at the North Pole. Penguins live at the south pole. So there is no answer.
Riddle:
They have not flesh, nor feathers,
Nor scales, nor bone.
Yet they have fingers and thumbs,
Of their own.
What am I?
Answer: Gloves
Riddle:
It is more beautiful than the face of your love.
It is more scary than your worst fear.
Dead men eat it all the time.
If a live man eats it, he soon will die.
A poor man has it.
A rich man wants it.
What am I?
Answer: Nothing
Riddle:
In many hallways you would stand,
If not with this in hand.
What am I?
Answer: A Key.
Riddle:
He who makes me doesn't want me,
He who buys me doesn't need me,
He who uses me doesn't care.
What am I?
Answer: A casket.
Riddle:
What is faster than the speed of sound, but is still human?
Answer: The thought.
Riddle:
I'm the source of all emotion, but I'm caged in a white prison.
What am I?
Answer: The heart.
Riddle:
There are four brothers in this world that were all born together:
The first he runs and never wearies,
The second eats and is never full.
The third he drinks and is ever thirsty,
And the fourth sings a song that is never good.
Who are we?
Answer: Water, Fire, Earth, and Wind.
Riddle:
If you have it,
You want to share it.
If you share it,
You don't have it.
What is it?
Answer: A secret
Riddle:
I don't think or eat or slumber
or move around or fear thunder
just like you I look the same
but I can't harm you or be your bane
What am I?
Answer: A doll
Riddle:
What has roots as nobody sees,
Is taller than trees,
Up, up it goes,
And yet never grows?
Answer: A mountain
Riddle:
Thirty white horses on a red hill,
First they champ,
Then they stamp,
Then they stand still.
What are we?
Answer: Teeth
Riddle:
Voiceless it cries,
Wingless it flutters,
Toothless bites,
Mouthless mutters.
What am I?
Answer: Wind
Riddle:
An eye in a blue face
Saw an eye in a green face.
"That eye is like to this eye"
Said the first eye,
"But in low place,
Not in high place."
What am I?
Answer: Daisy in field of grass, big eye is sun
Riddle:
It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
It lies behind stars and under hills,
And empty holes it fills.
It comes first and follows after,
Ends life, kills laughter.
What am I?
Answer: Darkness
Riddle:
A box without hinges, key, or lid,
Yet golden treasure inside is hid.
What am I?
Answer: Egg
Riddle:
Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
All in mail never clinking.
What am I?
Answer: Fish
Riddle:
This thing all things devours:
Birds, beast,trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down.
What am I?
Answer: Time
Riddle:
You feel it, but never see it and never will.
What am I?
Answer: Heart
Riddle:
You must keep it after giving it.
What am I?
Answer: Your word
Riddle:
As light as a feather, but you can't hold it for ten minutes.
What am I?
Answer: Your breath
Riddle:
Has a mouth but does not speak, has a bed but never sleeps.
What am I?
Answer: River
Riddle:
Runs smoother than any rhyme, loves to fall but cannot climb!
What am I?
Answer: Water
Riddle:
You break it even if you name it!
What am I?
Answer: Silence
Riddle:
It passes before the sun and makes no shadow.
What am I?
Answer: Air
Riddle:
You feed it, it lives, you give it something to drink, it dies.
What am I?
Answer: Fire
Riddle:
A red drum which sounds
Without being touched,
And grows silent,
When it is touched.
What am I?
Answer: Heart
Riddle:
Two horses, swiftest traveling,
Harnessed in a pair, and
Grazing ever in places
Distant from them.
What am I?
Answer: Eyes
Riddle:
A harvest sown and reaped on the same day
In an unplowed field,
Which increases without growing,
Remains whole though it is eaten
Within and without,
Is useless and yet
The staple of nations.
What am I?
Answer: War
Riddle:
If you break me
I do not stop working,
If you touch me
I may be snared,
If you lose me
Nothing will matter.
What am I?
Answer: Hope
Riddle:
All about, but cannot be seen,
Can be captured, cannot be held
No throat, but can be heard.
What am I?
Answer: Wind
Riddle:
I go around in circles,
But always straight ahead
Never complain,
No matter where I am led.
What am I?
Answer: Wheel
Riddle:
Lighter than what
I am made of,
More of me is hidden
Than is seen.
What am I?
Answer: Ice
Riddle:
If a man carried my burden,
He would break his back.
I am not rich,
But leave silver in my track.
What am I?
Answer: Snail
Riddle:
My life can be measured in hours,
I serve by being devoured.
Thin, I am quick
Fat, I am slow
Wind is my foe.
Answer: Candle
Riddle:
Weight in my belly,
Trees on my back,
Nails in my ribs,
Feet I do lack.
What am I?
Answer: boat, but I accepted cave as an answer
Riddle:
You can see nothing else
When you look in my face
I will look you in the eye
And I will never lie.
What am I?
Answer: mirror
Riddle:
I am always hungry,
I must always be fed,
The finger I lick
Will soon turn red.
What am I?
Answer: fire
Riddle:
Three lives have I.
Gentle enough to soothe the skin,
Light enough to caress the sky
Hard enough to crack rocks.
What am I?
Answer: water
Riddle:
Glittering points
That downward thrust,
Sparkling spears
That never rust.
What am I?
Answer: icicles, teeth or stalactites?
Riddle:
Each morning I appear
To lie at your feet,
All day I follow
No matter how fast you run,
Yet I nearly perish
In the midday sun.
What am I?
Answer: shadow
Riddle:
Keys without locks
Yet I unlock the soul.
What am I?
Answer: piano,harpsichord
Riddle:
Something wholly unreal, yet seems real to I
Think my friend, tell me where does it lie?
Answer: in the mind
Riddle:
I am so simple,
That I can only point
Yet I guide men
All over the world.
What am I?
Answer: compass
Riddle:
A beggar's brother went out to sea and drowned.
But the man who drowned had no brother.
What was the relationship between the man who drowned and the beggar?
What am I?
Answer: the beggars was his sister
Riddle:
First will be last
Last will be first
and all in between will also be cursed
open the door, and the thing will be there
so be careful and beware ! speak, frie
What am I?
Answer: unknown, and enter
Riddle:
For our ambrosia we were blessed,
by Jupiter, with a sting of death.
Though our might, to some is jest,
we have quelled the dragon's breath.
What am I?
Answer: Bees
Riddle:
Colored as a maiden tweaked,
time was naught when I began;
through the garden I was sneaked,
I alone am the fall of man.
What am I?
Answer: An Apple
Riddle:
Early ages the iron boot tread,
with Europe at her command.
Through time power slipped and fled,
'til the creation of new holy land.
What am I?
Answer: Italy (Rome)
Riddle:
One thin, one bold,
one sick, one cold.
The earth we span,
to prey upon man.
What am I?
Answer: The Four Horsemen of Apocalypse
Riddle:
One where none should be,
or maybe where two should be,
seeking out purity,
in the kings trees.
What am I?
Answer: A Unicorn
Riddle:
He who makes it does not keep it.
He who takes it does not know it.
He who knows it does not want it.
He who gathers it must destroy it.
What am I?
Answer: Counterfeit Money
Riddle:
One tooth to bite,
he's the forests foe.
One tooth to fight,
as all Norse know.
What am I?
Answer: An Axe
Riddle:
This creature, part man and part tree,
hates the termite as much as the flea.
His tracks do not match,
and his limbs may detach,
but he's not a strange creature to see.
What am I?
Answer: A Man With A Wooden Leg
Riddle:
The part of the bird
that is not in the sky,
which can swim in the ocean
and always stay dry.
What am I?
Answer: A Shadow
Riddle:
Dead and bound,
what once was free.
What made no sound,
now sings with glee.
What am I?
Answer: A Wooden, Stringed Instrument
Riddle:
The root tops the trunk
on this backward thing,
that grows in the winter
and dies in the spring.
What am I?
Answer: An Icicle
Riddle:
Touching one, yet holding two,
it is a one link chain
binding those who keep words true,
'til death rent it in twain.
What am I?
Answer: A Wedding Ring
Riddle:
A house of wood in a hidden place
Built without nails or glue
High above the earthen ground
It holds pale gems of blue.
What am I?
Answer: A Robin's Nest
Riddle:
Inside a great blue castle
Lives a shy young maid
She blushes in the morning
And comes not out at night.
What am I?
Answer: The sun
Riddle:
I have legs but walk not
A strong back but work not
Two good arms but reach not
A seat but sit and tarry not
What am I?
Answer: A chair
Riddle:
I can be touched
But I hurt those who touch me
I move swiftly through a dry forest
But die in a mountain stream
Where I pass I leave a black shroud.
What am I?
Answer: Fire
Riddle:
He who makes it needs it not
He who buys it wants it not
He who uses it feels it not
What am I?
Answer: A coffin
Riddle:
In marble halls as white as milk,
Lined with a skin as soft as silk,
Within a fountain crystal-clear,
A golden apple doth appear.
No doors there are to this stronghold,
Yet thieves break in and steal the gold.
What am I?
Answer: An egg
Riddle:
'Twas in heaven pronounced, and 'twas muttered in hell,
An echo caught faintly the sound as it fell;
On the confines of earth 'twas permitted to rest,
And the depths of the ocean its presence confessed;
'Twill be found in the sphere when 'tis riven asunder,
Be seen in the lightning and heard in the thunder.
'Twas allotted to man with his earliest breath,
Attends him at birth, and awaits him in death,
Presides o'er his happiness, honor, and health,
Is the prop of his house, and the end of his wealth.
In the heaps of the miser 'tis hoarded with care,
But is sure to be lost on the prodigal heir.
It begins every hope, every wish it must bound,
With the husbandman toils, and with monarchs is crowned.
Without it the soldier, the seaman may roam,
But woe to the wretch who expels it from home!
In the whispers of conscience its voice will be found,
Nor e'en in the whirlwind of passion be drowned.
'Twill not soften the heart; but though deaf be the ear,
It will make it acutely and instantly hear.
Yet in shade let it rest, like a delicate flower,
Ah... breathe on it softly, - it dies in an hour.
What am I?
Answer: The letter 'H'
Riddle:
The beginning of eternity,
The end of time and space,
The beginning of every end,
The end of every place.
What am I?
Answer: The letter 'E'
Riddle:
Robbers came to our house
And we were all in.
The house leaped out at the windows
And we were all taken in.
What am I?
Answer: Fish in a net
Riddle:
Though I dance at a ball, I am nothing at all.
What am I?
Answer: A shadow
Riddle:
As I was going to St. Ives,
I met a man who had seven wives.
Each wife had seven sacks,
Each sack had seven cats,
Each cat had seven kits.
Kits, cats, sacks and wives,
How many were going to St. Ives?
Answer: One
Riddle:
Look into my face and I'm everybody;
Scratch my back and I'm nobody.
What am I?
Answer: A mirror
Riddle:
Goes over all the hills and hollows,
Bites hard, but never swallows.
What am I?
Answer: Frost
Riddle:
I walked and walked and at last I got it;
I didn't want it, so I stopped and looked for it;
When I found it, I threw it away.
What am I?
Answer: A thorn
Riddle:
Lives in winter, dies in summer,
Grows with its root upwards.
What am I?
Answer: An icicle
Riddle:
A man rode to town on Friday.
He stayed there all night,
and came back on the same Friday.
How can this be?
Answer: His horse is named "Friday"
Riddle:
Fatherless and Motherless, born without sin
Roared when it came into the world,
And never spoke again.
What am I?
Answer: Thunder
CONTRIBUTORS
The Olesen's (olesens@bellatlantic.net)
John Mccrady (jmccrady@wirefire.com)
David and Andrew Kuhns (e4e5@mninter.net)
James Maynard (jdmaynard@merge.com)
Martin Aquino (aquino@lasaltech.com)
Lo Wang of the land of Athas (skippyny@earthlink.net)
ArchAngel (dryfus@total.net)
Hans Andrew Mersinger (hamersin@maple.computing.csbsju.edu)
Evan Romig (edzepp@pacbell.net)
Lynx Drakkar (lynxd@PACIFIC.NET.SG)
Steven A Maske (mgfy43c@PRODIGY.COM)
cronyn (kwciv@BDSNET.COM)
Mr. Dellutri (dellutri@cnw.com)
Steve Humiston (Sigurd_HH@msn.com)
Bernardo Leal (bleal@CNBA.UBA.AR)
Garry Sled (gsled@interlynx.net)
Massimo Corbani (mcorbani@sanita.otm.it)
-= Krueger =- (krueger@elwha.evergreen.edu)
Wjw / -/ -/oratio (horatio@magpage)
Shashi Mahesh (smahesh@wi.leidenuni)
R. Bryant (Beleghir@AOL.COM) who got it from a Dell Wordsearch Puzzle
Kelly Bringhurst (bringhur@SCI.DIXIE)
V. and G. Crisan (crisan@shadow)
Rasmus Keil (rk@DDRE.DDRE.DK)