Middling Riddles ( ; ' - ')
1) Soft-spoken friend, yet immortal foe;
A helpful voice, or screeching howl.
From a single flake a storm of snow —
A pet becomes a horde most foul.
2) Forgotten are the children there;
They fill with music all the air.
A trysting place, a broken tree,
Abandoned after Fate's decree.
3) From leer of eye,
And cloak of mustard,
Stranger countenance unfound.
In such presence
Truth is uttered,
And watchful orbs abound.
4) Aesthetic phylactery,
And mode of transmission —
Where art thou, faded sister?
Safeguard thy flame, thy mission.
5) A hundred mountains, clouded sky.
One path, no trace of man.
Broken ice. Dark water.
Girl standing — ashen cloak of fur.
6) Within the soul of the awakened one,
An arachnine titan keeps guard.
Its aureate hide is corrupted inside,
And by its own strength is it marred.
7) Family of scrubby traitors,
Hidden under plant —
Students of numerology,
Defend themselves they can’t.
8) A verdant eruption signals my cache,
Surrounded by wealth that's gone in a flash.
Enlightened in name and fleetest of foot,
I'm yours for a time, but I won't stay put.
9) Regardless of progress, begin at the start;
Relying on skill, your knowledge, a part —
Scavenge and acquire all that you must,
In the hands of a sage you need place your trust.
10) Five arms of power,
Waiting for the hour.
Peopled within and peopled without,
A king fears their clout.
Wave-etched stone,
Now cursed and alone.
11) High in the air
A red solitaire —
Whose companion resides
In a tearful band —
Where souls search
In a silent land.
12) Kept from ascension,
Trapped beyond the grave;
Savior gifted timely prize —
Lighthearted gift it gave.
13) A haunted vessel caught between lands;
Tarnished effect beneath sinking sands;
Finder found by oasis tree;
Chattering teeth reveal the key.
14) Blue and grey with red and gold,
Together sing in moonlight cold.
Hollow stones his past uphold,
And bring to light the sword foretold.
15) Place of remaking caught between lands,
A long-sealed quartet locked away;
Small turns to large, and large turns to small.
The Darkness a child shall allay.
16) The scion of an ancient race,
I search the world to find my place.
My power's not in strength, but mind;
My people's gift I hope to find.
17) A segment of spanning stands in your way;
At brink of unbearable blaze, flee day.
Vying with vigor and virtue, bear down
Toward triumph anointed by tears of the crown.
18) Hermetic Hylian, heuristic of speed;
Mercurial Mystic who mocks any lead.
19) His crown is ruddy, his boots are gold.
Alone in the court a chieftain sings.
Thanes are scattered, the soft-footed horde --
Gray warrior at last grants him strong aid.
20) In shadowed land
Where darkness falls,
A dragon lives
And owl calls.
A land of dead
Where keys are found —
One in the sky,
One underground.
By candlelight
The path you'll see;
Where spirit rests
You’ll find the key.
21) A figure carved of stone —
unfinished and alone;
This creature’s kept at bay
with object sealed away;
Join counterpart’s own hide
and sealing stone will slide.
22) Blue will turn to leaden grey,
Clear to leaded glass;
Youth and age have taught you change:
Teardrops on the grass.
23) Oldest of old,
The first story told;
A land just created,
With a history fated;
The cradle of feature --
Place, thing, and creature.
24) *scritch, scratch*
What a catch!
*scritch, scratch*
You can't use that!
*scritch, scratch*
Hey! give that back!
25) Fiercely-guarded,
Palace-sheltered,
Shade-unmasking,
Hallowed symbol.
26) Southern watercourse, high-bounded walls, open sky;
People, creatures, spirits gather — bench, bridge, bell;
Place of lost love, curiosity, and thievery;
Relinquish guilt, familiar melody on unfamiliar air.
27) Staring at you from the seam of the sky,
My right eye’s the traitor — its pupil your door;
So enter my head at the risk of your own:
Arteries watched by old rivals in war —
Treasure you seek found in innermost eye.
28) A song and sword are all you need
To find your wish from likeness freed.
So draw and draw to sate your greed,
Upon these walls that few can read.
29) Great diaspora to a “homeland” returned,
But only by niter and threat!
You pluck us out of our various homes,
Exchanging your sword for a net!
30) We are a pair, like wheel and wain —
By location and use we’re allied.
Keeping secrets (of boon and bane),
Yet our bearings rarely misguide.
31) Upon scattered isles’ sacred plaque,
Look thee eastward to admire:
When fire’s chariot begins ascent,
And, slowly rising, reaches higher
To mirror sister’s flowing swell,
Study well Din’s holy fire.
Loosing fast a skyward arc,
Softly lands what you require.
32) Captive as my captive,
I prey on those naïve.
Within the dark do I reside;
My name and form deceive.
33) Around the table, we gathered here
Are stalwart, set against gathering fear;
True comrades in arms, ever pursued
By growing dark, seeking in solitude.
Restless, alone, we keep watch on the land,
Seldom to meet in our underground band.
34) Raindrop rising,
Inverted tear —
Feathers falling,
Become a seer.
35) now ago
peace ruin
heal fire
equal parts
mirrored
twin
36) Chaplet of the forest-king;
Carcass of the foulest weed;
Cudgel of the bumbling oaf:
Upright, it gives light;
Breaks despite great might;
Helps dormant sprites take wing.
37) Blank as a bare hill,
Inter yourself at will:
Plain as loose gravel,
Unseen may you travel.
38) As with moon and sun a mystery,
Deep origins in history:
Celestial forms that streak the sky —
shifting, gliding,
showing, hiding --
Like flowing streams, they sail on by.
39) My voice is a duality,
Both royal and divine.
My powers are a mystery,
Both mighty yet benign.
Advance — I grant you passage:
To cross the world’s seam,
To tame the waters posing you,
To enter death’s regime.
Retreat — I grant you wisdom:
To forge a fiery trail,
To solve a clue once left for you,
To guide you through the gale.
40) Uniting child, mother, crone,
Monster, shaman, hero, beast,
For friendship lost and Hyrule’s throne,
In gloaming ever umbering.
The past through relic finds release,
By secret sign is shelter shown —
The land’s forgetfulness a piece
Of evil never slumbering.
41) Purveyors of information,
Yet nothing is their fee.
Mysterious their provenance,
Though trusted, you can see.
42) A lofty tome of ciphered lore;
Its verses wrought greed and, thereafter, war.
43) Void hearts, granted life where absent before,
Mimic you to see your foes destroyed.
This relic of old, its worth told in lore,
Is actually seldom employed . . . .
44) All at once, or not at all,
Twisted innocence held in thrall --
Descent from on high in bounds complete,
A sacred beast can spell defeat.
45) An implacable adversary —
Stern, yet mild:
Mind of a man
In the form of a child.
46) In city of air
A being waits
Who lives to dare
Our mortal fates.
A boon it grants
In darkened rain:
A risk to chance
For loss or gain.
Life and power
Are its dealing;
In needful hour
Your future sealing.
47) Separate from the pack
And the means to attack;
Skill forgot, a missing sigil —
Frozen heights conceal her vigil.
48) In spring atop the fertile mound,
Upon the blossom-coated ground,
Reincarnate sage is found —
Vibrant coat and laurel-crowned.
49) On peak of prosperity built,
Towering over the land,
Engulfed in autumn fire's gilt:
The Kingdom's final stand.
50) In the hills we oft hang out,
A thieving, red-nosed stack.
We only tread where we can scout,
And spinelessly attack.
51) Designed as a folly at sea,
Erasing in full the Fourth Wall,
Extruding its X, A, and B,
Ever something that raises my gall.
Littered with things bourgeoisie,
It’s something you'd buy at a mall.
52) Backbone of Hyrule,
Travels all quarters;
No guise can befool
This Prince of the Porters;
Himself he will addle,
Then sing and skedaddle.
53) Back and forth rocking,
Here and there talking.
In you he'll confide . . .
but not side by side.
54) Kaleidoscopic flower, or psychedelic weed?
As hydra loses hue, it gains yet greater speed.
55) A polished stone enshrined on high
Hides inner self from outward eye;
A magic bound in carmine hue
Grants humors false instead of true.
56) Roaming, they’ll surprise you --
They shoot, you dodge or parry!
Their label’s a misnomer,
As often less they carry.
57) I am you, but not;
You are me, but not.
Light cannot fathom me;
Thought cannot know me.
You search for me in vain;
I appear with no forewarning.
I am the echo of your footstep,
And that which comes in dreams.
Ally and foe, self and other,
A warped and piercing mirror.
58) A gate of stone,
I sit alone.
Alive, yet not,
I must be fought.
I’ve waited long
To hear your song.
So give me breath,
And taste your death.
59) As idols rise and goddess falls,
A darkness lifts from ruined walls.
Sins reflected, mercy scorned —
Teardrop-shattered, forever mourned.
60) This for that, and tit-for-tat,
A bargain, a barter, a trade;
Travel, collect, a swapping crusade:
See what this junk’s valued at?!
61) Niter, my scent,
Twisted, my name;
With careening descent,
Exploding’s my game!
62) Cast by fire, earth’s gamble thrown:
A rocky game of chance —
From pip to eyot, we hold the cay
To greater happenstance.
63) Brightening, nurturing
Soothing, blowing
Enriching, quickening
Changing, flowing
64) I am the one that got away:
I’m carried, never thrown.
Know: cleanliness is godliness;
I’m enemy to sloppiness!
My art is rather obvious —
Maybe slightly overblown . . . .
65) What a group of classy brutes,
Dancing round in four-piece suits:
Skill and chance are in cahoots!
66) I am a mere servant,
Yet the carrier of voids.
My brethren are legion,
Yet we crack under pressure.
67) An ‘ard ‘ead o’ cheese,
With ‘orns like a bulblin . . .
A kiddin’ facade,
But true form of a god!
A pain t’rein in,
But their victuals does please . . . .
68) My kin creep in packs
Of a tough, patchy nature.
Carve through skin, squash ribs? —
Our scions emerge weapons!
69) With violet soul and flesh of stone,
I seem my kin till darkness shown;
In eerie glen I call my home —
Strike me as the shadows roam.
70) Twenty-five foes on a red and sable field:
First they chase; then they crush; then a corpse reveal.
71) Gift like water, grown in soil,
It grows in value as you toil.
72) You could eat it, but you’d find it shocking.
A dash of powder makes it more palatable.
It might be best on a tropical island,
But don’t forget this nomad’s sunglasses!
73) Are the snowbanks marred under feet,
And hale trees laced with early snow?
Purple walls have tumbled down
Among red towers aiming high.
Warmth floats above the moving trees,
And stirs within the crawling vines.
Below the ancient, broken tiles:
A wasteland wherein order dreams.
This is the flower’s time,
But out of time’s covenant.
Now the ground of fire below
Is marked by strange happenings.
Where is there an end to change?
The silent withering of fallen leaves,
Parted from branch, remaining still:
Red pillars in a burning lake.
So, while the light changes on these purple walls,
In this weathered chapel, change is now and final.
74) Below the dianthus lies a vast secret.
Under the camellia are passion and fire.
Beneath the lisianthus dance stone and steel.
75) A game a bit like a puzzle — piecing together a whole.
While rejoining all its fragments, it steals a bit of your soul.
76) From my crown to my temples,
Blocky, curvy chicanery!
A helpful voice, or screeching howl.
From a single flake a storm of snow —
A pet becomes a horde most foul.
2) Forgotten are the children there;
They fill with music all the air.
A trysting place, a broken tree,
Abandoned after Fate's decree.
3) From leer of eye,
And cloak of mustard,
Stranger countenance unfound.
In such presence
Truth is uttered,
And watchful orbs abound.
4) Aesthetic phylactery,
And mode of transmission —
Where art thou, faded sister?
Safeguard thy flame, thy mission.
5) A hundred mountains, clouded sky.
One path, no trace of man.
Broken ice. Dark water.
Girl standing — ashen cloak of fur.
6) Within the soul of the awakened one,
An arachnine titan keeps guard.
Its aureate hide is corrupted inside,
And by its own strength is it marred.
7) Family of scrubby traitors,
Hidden under plant —
Students of numerology,
Defend themselves they can’t.
8) A verdant eruption signals my cache,
Surrounded by wealth that's gone in a flash.
Enlightened in name and fleetest of foot,
I'm yours for a time, but I won't stay put.
9) Regardless of progress, begin at the start;
Relying on skill, your knowledge, a part —
Scavenge and acquire all that you must,
In the hands of a sage you need place your trust.
10) Five arms of power,
Waiting for the hour.
Peopled within and peopled without,
A king fears their clout.
Wave-etched stone,
Now cursed and alone.
11) High in the air
A red solitaire —
Whose companion resides
In a tearful band —
Where souls search
In a silent land.
12) Kept from ascension,
Trapped beyond the grave;
Savior gifted timely prize —
Lighthearted gift it gave.
13) A haunted vessel caught between lands;
Tarnished effect beneath sinking sands;
Finder found by oasis tree;
Chattering teeth reveal the key.
14) Blue and grey with red and gold,
Together sing in moonlight cold.
Hollow stones his past uphold,
And bring to light the sword foretold.
15) Place of remaking caught between lands,
A long-sealed quartet locked away;
Small turns to large, and large turns to small.
The Darkness a child shall allay.
16) The scion of an ancient race,
I search the world to find my place.
My power's not in strength, but mind;
My people's gift I hope to find.
17) A segment of spanning stands in your way;
At brink of unbearable blaze, flee day.
Vying with vigor and virtue, bear down
Toward triumph anointed by tears of the crown.
18) Hermetic Hylian, heuristic of speed;
Mercurial Mystic who mocks any lead.
19) His crown is ruddy, his boots are gold.
Alone in the court a chieftain sings.
Thanes are scattered, the soft-footed horde --
Gray warrior at last grants him strong aid.
20) In shadowed land
Where darkness falls,
A dragon lives
And owl calls.
A land of dead
Where keys are found —
One in the sky,
One underground.
By candlelight
The path you'll see;
Where spirit rests
You’ll find the key.
21) A figure carved of stone —
unfinished and alone;
This creature’s kept at bay
with object sealed away;
Join counterpart’s own hide
and sealing stone will slide.
22) Blue will turn to leaden grey,
Clear to leaded glass;
Youth and age have taught you change:
Teardrops on the grass.
23) Oldest of old,
The first story told;
A land just created,
With a history fated;
The cradle of feature --
Place, thing, and creature.
24) *scritch, scratch*
What a catch!
*scritch, scratch*
You can't use that!
*scritch, scratch*
Hey! give that back!
25) Fiercely-guarded,
Palace-sheltered,
Shade-unmasking,
Hallowed symbol.
26) Southern watercourse, high-bounded walls, open sky;
People, creatures, spirits gather — bench, bridge, bell;
Place of lost love, curiosity, and thievery;
Relinquish guilt, familiar melody on unfamiliar air.
27) Staring at you from the seam of the sky,
My right eye’s the traitor — its pupil your door;
So enter my head at the risk of your own:
Arteries watched by old rivals in war —
Treasure you seek found in innermost eye.
28) A song and sword are all you need
To find your wish from likeness freed.
So draw and draw to sate your greed,
Upon these walls that few can read.
29) Great diaspora to a “homeland” returned,
But only by niter and threat!
You pluck us out of our various homes,
Exchanging your sword for a net!
30) We are a pair, like wheel and wain —
By location and use we’re allied.
Keeping secrets (of boon and bane),
Yet our bearings rarely misguide.
31) Upon scattered isles’ sacred plaque,
Look thee eastward to admire:
When fire’s chariot begins ascent,
And, slowly rising, reaches higher
To mirror sister’s flowing swell,
Study well Din’s holy fire.
Loosing fast a skyward arc,
Softly lands what you require.
32) Captive as my captive,
I prey on those naïve.
Within the dark do I reside;
My name and form deceive.
33) Around the table, we gathered here
Are stalwart, set against gathering fear;
True comrades in arms, ever pursued
By growing dark, seeking in solitude.
Restless, alone, we keep watch on the land,
Seldom to meet in our underground band.
34) Raindrop rising,
Inverted tear —
Feathers falling,
Become a seer.
35) now ago
peace ruin
heal fire
equal parts
mirrored
twin
36) Chaplet of the forest-king;
Carcass of the foulest weed;
Cudgel of the bumbling oaf:
Upright, it gives light;
Breaks despite great might;
Helps dormant sprites take wing.
37) Blank as a bare hill,
Inter yourself at will:
Plain as loose gravel,
Unseen may you travel.
38) As with moon and sun a mystery,
Deep origins in history:
Celestial forms that streak the sky —
shifting, gliding,
showing, hiding --
Like flowing streams, they sail on by.
39) My voice is a duality,
Both royal and divine.
My powers are a mystery,
Both mighty yet benign.
Advance — I grant you passage:
To cross the world’s seam,
To tame the waters posing you,
To enter death’s regime.
Retreat — I grant you wisdom:
To forge a fiery trail,
To solve a clue once left for you,
To guide you through the gale.
40) Uniting child, mother, crone,
Monster, shaman, hero, beast,
For friendship lost and Hyrule’s throne,
In gloaming ever umbering.
The past through relic finds release,
By secret sign is shelter shown —
The land’s forgetfulness a piece
Of evil never slumbering.
41) Purveyors of information,
Yet nothing is their fee.
Mysterious their provenance,
Though trusted, you can see.
42) A lofty tome of ciphered lore;
Its verses wrought greed and, thereafter, war.
43) Void hearts, granted life where absent before,
Mimic you to see your foes destroyed.
This relic of old, its worth told in lore,
Is actually seldom employed . . . .
44) All at once, or not at all,
Twisted innocence held in thrall --
Descent from on high in bounds complete,
A sacred beast can spell defeat.
45) An implacable adversary —
Stern, yet mild:
Mind of a man
In the form of a child.
46) In city of air
A being waits
Who lives to dare
Our mortal fates.
A boon it grants
In darkened rain:
A risk to chance
For loss or gain.
Life and power
Are its dealing;
In needful hour
Your future sealing.
47) Separate from the pack
And the means to attack;
Skill forgot, a missing sigil —
Frozen heights conceal her vigil.
48) In spring atop the fertile mound,
Upon the blossom-coated ground,
Reincarnate sage is found —
Vibrant coat and laurel-crowned.
49) On peak of prosperity built,
Towering over the land,
Engulfed in autumn fire's gilt:
The Kingdom's final stand.
50) In the hills we oft hang out,
A thieving, red-nosed stack.
We only tread where we can scout,
And spinelessly attack.
51) Designed as a folly at sea,
Erasing in full the Fourth Wall,
Extruding its X, A, and B,
Ever something that raises my gall.
Littered with things bourgeoisie,
It’s something you'd buy at a mall.
52) Backbone of Hyrule,
Travels all quarters;
No guise can befool
This Prince of the Porters;
Himself he will addle,
Then sing and skedaddle.
53) Back and forth rocking,
Here and there talking.
In you he'll confide . . .
but not side by side.
54) Kaleidoscopic flower, or psychedelic weed?
As hydra loses hue, it gains yet greater speed.
55) A polished stone enshrined on high
Hides inner self from outward eye;
A magic bound in carmine hue
Grants humors false instead of true.
56) Roaming, they’ll surprise you --
They shoot, you dodge or parry!
Their label’s a misnomer,
As often less they carry.
57) I am you, but not;
You are me, but not.
Light cannot fathom me;
Thought cannot know me.
You search for me in vain;
I appear with no forewarning.
I am the echo of your footstep,
And that which comes in dreams.
Ally and foe, self and other,
A warped and piercing mirror.
58) A gate of stone,
I sit alone.
Alive, yet not,
I must be fought.
I’ve waited long
To hear your song.
So give me breath,
And taste your death.
59) As idols rise and goddess falls,
A darkness lifts from ruined walls.
Sins reflected, mercy scorned —
Teardrop-shattered, forever mourned.
60) This for that, and tit-for-tat,
A bargain, a barter, a trade;
Travel, collect, a swapping crusade:
See what this junk’s valued at?!
61) Niter, my scent,
Twisted, my name;
With careening descent,
Exploding’s my game!
62) Cast by fire, earth’s gamble thrown:
A rocky game of chance —
From pip to eyot, we hold the cay
To greater happenstance.
63) Brightening, nurturing
Soothing, blowing
Enriching, quickening
Changing, flowing
64) I am the one that got away:
I’m carried, never thrown.
Know: cleanliness is godliness;
I’m enemy to sloppiness!
My art is rather obvious —
Maybe slightly overblown . . . .
65) What a group of classy brutes,
Dancing round in four-piece suits:
Skill and chance are in cahoots!
66) I am a mere servant,
Yet the carrier of voids.
My brethren are legion,
Yet we crack under pressure.
67) An ‘ard ‘ead o’ cheese,
With ‘orns like a bulblin . . .
A kiddin’ facade,
But true form of a god!
A pain t’rein in,
But their victuals does please . . . .
68) My kin creep in packs
Of a tough, patchy nature.
Carve through skin, squash ribs? —
Our scions emerge weapons!
69) With violet soul and flesh of stone,
I seem my kin till darkness shown;
In eerie glen I call my home —
Strike me as the shadows roam.
70) Twenty-five foes on a red and sable field:
First they chase; then they crush; then a corpse reveal.
71) Gift like water, grown in soil,
It grows in value as you toil.
72) You could eat it, but you’d find it shocking.
A dash of powder makes it more palatable.
It might be best on a tropical island,
But don’t forget this nomad’s sunglasses!
73) Are the snowbanks marred under feet,
And hale trees laced with early snow?
Purple walls have tumbled down
Among red towers aiming high.
Warmth floats above the moving trees,
And stirs within the crawling vines.
Below the ancient, broken tiles:
A wasteland wherein order dreams.
This is the flower’s time,
But out of time’s covenant.
Now the ground of fire below
Is marked by strange happenings.
Where is there an end to change?
The silent withering of fallen leaves,
Parted from branch, remaining still:
Red pillars in a burning lake.
So, while the light changes on these purple walls,
In this weathered chapel, change is now and final.
74) Below the dianthus lies a vast secret.
Under the camellia are passion and fire.
Beneath the lisianthus dance stone and steel.
75) A game a bit like a puzzle — piecing together a whole.
While rejoining all its fragments, it steals a bit of your soul.
76) From my crown to my temples,
Blocky, curvy chicanery!