Lore talk:The Red Book of Riddles

Explanation

I would love for someone to explain these riddles in the Red Book. Yellow's riddles make sense. All Red's do are rhyme. — Unsigned comment by 208.191.215.176 (talk) at 17:32 on 2 June 2024‎

It's not supposed to be taken too seriously, as the note in the preface indicates, but here's an explanation:

Riddle 1

Answer: It must be a drake — i.e., a coin.

It has a tail, a side and a head — The two sides of a coin are called the head and tail. The very thin edge must be the "side" referred to here.

I call it what I call a snake — Snake rhymes with drake.

It has no body and it is dead — It's not an animal unlike most things with heads and tails. And it's dead, i.e. inanimate.

Riddle 2

Answer: It is not a book of poetry. — i.e., any book without poetry in it.

Poets know the hearts of Men and Mer — Assumption needed for line 2.

But beasts can't know my heart, you see — Therefore, beasts cannot be poets.

This book was written by a bear — Since the book was written by a beast, it can't be a poetry book.

Riddle 3

Answer: It must have been a great hit. — i.e., a strong punch.

I gave you a sock, not unlike a box — A play on the word "sock" as in a punch or hit. "Box" as in boxing punch.

With hammers and nails all around it — Nails might be fingernails. Hammer = hand? This is definitely the most obscure line.

Two lids open when it knocks — Probably the person getting hit has their eyes open wide at the surprise of the punch.

—Dillonn241 (talk) 00:26, 12 August 2024 (UTC)