The Ridere of Riddles facts for kids
The Ridere of Riddles is an old Scottish fairy tale. It was first written down by John Francis Campbell in his book, Popular Tales of the West Highlands. Another writer, Joseph Jacobs, also shared a version of this tale in More Celtic Fairy Tales.
The Brothers' Great Adventure
Once, a king's wife passed away when their son was born. The king married again, and his new wife had a son too. The new queen, the stepmother, wanted her own son to become king. She tried to give the older prince a dangerous drink. But her own son, the younger prince, warned his brother.
The older prince decided to leave the kingdom to stay safe. His younger brother bravely went with him. They tested the dangerous drink on their horses, and the horses became very sick. Soon after, twelve ravens came to eat the horses and also became sick.
The brothers then had the ravens' bodies made into pies. As they traveled, some bandits tried to stop them. The brothers said they had no money, but offered their pies. The bandits ate the pies and became sick. The brothers then took the bandits' gold and silver.
They continued their journey until they reached the home of the Ridere (which means Knight) of Riddles. This knight had a beautiful daughter. She would marry anyone who could ask a riddle her father could not solve.
The Unsolvable Riddle
The brothers asked the Ridere of Riddles a tricky question: "One killed two, and two killed twelve, and twelve killed four and twenty, and two got out of it." The knight could not guess the answer. He sent twelve maidens to try and trick the answer from the younger brother. But the younger brother was clever and kept their cloaks, yet did not tell the secret.
Finally, the princess herself went to the older brother. She managed to get the answer from him, but she also left her cloak behind. The Ridere of Riddles was very angry and wanted to punish the brothers.
However, the older brother explained the riddle's meaning. He told the story of how his brother had hunted twelve hares and gotten their hides. He himself had hunted a fine hare and gotten its hide. This explanation satisfied the Ridere. So, the older brother married the knight's daughter. The younger brother continued his journey, and the older brother gave him the right to rule their home kingdom.
The Hero of the White Shield
Near the Ridere's home lived three giants. The Ridere told his new son-in-law that if he was brave, he should defeat them. The older brother did this and was then called the Hero of the White Shield. He went to live on the lands that once belonged to the giants.
His younger brother heard about this great hero, but did not know it was his own brother. He went to fight him. They battled fiercely, and neither could win. After a long fight, they finally told each other their names and realized they were brothers!
The younger brother then traveled back home. On his way, he saw twelve young men playing a game called shinny. He learned that these were his twelve sons, each from a different mother. He brought both the young men and their mothers back home with him.
