Anglo-Saxon Riddles of the Exeter Book/1

1 (K-D 1)

What good man is    so learned and so clever
that he can say who drives me    forth on my way?
When I rise up strong    at times furious,
I thunder mightily    and again with havoc
I sweep over the land,    burn the great hall,
ravage the buildings.    Smoke mounts on high
dark over the rooftops.    Clamor is everywhere,
sudden death among men.    When I shake the forest,
the trees proud in their fruit,    I fell the boles.
With my roof of water,    by the powers above10
I am driven far and wide    on my avenging path.
I bear on my back    what once covered the forms
of the earth-dwellers,     their body and soul
together in the waters.     Say what covers me
or what I am called     who bear this burden.

A storm of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning on land. Ll. 12–14 refer to the Biblical Flood.