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riddles >> what am i >> Kills many... / Kills all...
(Message started by: Yang_He on Jan 29th, 2003, 10:17pm)

Title: Kills many... / Kills all...
Post by Yang_He on Jan 29th, 2003, 10:17pm
Here is one

Kills many,
Never dies,
Gives life,
Everywhere,
Has mass and density,
What am I?

Another one,

kills all,
gives death,
gives life,
none excape,
beats down mountains,
none can escape,
What am I?

Please notify me if you had any fun. :) :)

//Title changed by moderator//

Title: Re: Any literary riddles??? No??? Why not???
Post by Speaker on Jan 30th, 2003, 1:37am
Water

Time

Title: Re: Any literary riddles??? No??? Why not???
Post by aero guy on Jan 30th, 2003, 5:03am
Hmm, reminds me of Bilbo's and Gollum's riddles.  The Hobbit is required reading for anyone who likes literary riddles.  Here is his version of your riddle:

This thing all things devours:
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town
And beats high mountain down.

Here is another (not from The Hobbit) you might like:

What can run but never walks,
has a mouth but never talks,
has a head but never weeps,
has a bed but never sleeps?

and:

Man walks over; man walks under; in time of war he burns asunder.

I must say I prefer these too.  There is a certain elegance to them, and they are easier to remember correctly.  I would also like to see more of these.  Many of the recent entries have been math puzzles, which while fun are not really riddles.

Title: Re: Any literary riddles??? No??? Why not???
Post by prince on Jan 30th, 2003, 12:24pm
I like these aero guy.  Considering the answers, is there an elegant way to combine them into 1 riddle with a 2-part answer?  I'm not a great writer, so the stuff I come up with is cumbersome.

Title: Re: Any literary riddles??? No??? Why not???
Post by Speaker on Jan 30th, 2003, 5:46pm
I have to agree, I like these kinds of riddles.

Aero Guy, are your answers,  water, river, bridge ?


Title: Re: Any literary riddles??? No??? Why not???
Post by aero_guy on Jan 31st, 2003, 12:54am
Speaker, you got all but the first one.  Prince, here is my attempt at the uber-riddle:  I made up the third riddle as the answer to the one I had written was not what you thought.


Three things I ponder intertwined,
the first is easy you will find.

Man walks over; man walks under; in time of war he burns asunder.

But not just man will pass below,
the second also follows so.

It can run but never walks,
has a mouth but never talks,
has a head but never weeps,
has a bed but never sleeps?

Now that this has been done
it hints at the third one.

Ever falling, never rising, life is mine to give or take.
All consuming, eating, grinding, yet of me all men partake.

Now all three are know correct,
tell me how we three connect.


You like?

Title: Re: Any literary riddles??? No??? Why not???
Post by prince on Jan 31st, 2003, 5:25am
I like it, but am somewhat confused.  Is the third part of this riddle similar to the first riddle you posted? [hide]answer=time[/hide] I remember the answer to the first, but it doesn't seem to fit your "uber-riddle"

Title: Re: Any literary riddles??? No??? Why not???
Post by aero_guy on Jan 31st, 2003, 11:55am
No it doesn't.  When you suggested the grand riddle It seemed that you thought there was a common thread between the answers of the three.  The first one I posted did not fit the pattern I thought you wanted (you got the answer right), so I made one up that did.  That is the last riddle in my previous post.  It has an answer that meshes well with the other two, which should be a big hint.

Actually, now that I reread it I find that I rather like it.  I never tried making up my own riddles before.  trying to get the rhyme right was a pain.

Title: Re: Any literary riddles??? No??? Why not???
Post by Speaker on Feb 2nd, 2003, 9:08pm
I like it Aero_guy, keep up the good work.

Title: Re: Any literary riddles??? No??? Why not???
Post by aero_guy on Feb 3rd, 2003, 1:18am
thanks speaker, I will try to come up with some more



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