Helen wrote on 31 Jul 08 - 03:11 AM

"...The oldest British joke dates back to the 10th century and reveals the bawdy face of the Anglo-Saxons. "What hangs at a man's thigh and wants to poke the hole that it's often poked before? A key."..."

This reminds me of a riddle from around the same period. In translation it runs roughly:

"I'm a strange creature, for I satisfy women, a service to the neighbours.
No one suffers at my hands except for my slayer.
I grow erect in a bed, I'm hairy underneath.
From time to time, a beautiful girl,
The brave daughter of some churl
Dares to hold me,
Grips my russet skin,robs me of my head and puts me in the pantry.
At once, that girl with plaited hair who has confined me, remembers our meeting
Her eye moistens."

The answer being, An Onion.

W