A third poem, extending to fourteen lines, may be called the "Northumbrian Riddle." It is called by Dr Sweet the "Leiden Riddle," because the MS. that contains it is now at Leyden, in Holland. The locality is unknown, but we may assign it to Yorkshire or Durham without going far wrong. There is another copy in a Southern dialect. These three brief poems, viz. Beda's Death-song, C{ae}dmon's Hymn, and the Riddle, are all printed, accessibly, in Sweet's _Anglo-Saxon Reader_. There is another relic of Old Northumbrian, apparently belonging to the middle of the eighth century, which is too remarkable to be passed over. I refer to the famous Ruthwell cross, situate not far to the west of Annan, near the southern coast of Dumfriesshire, and near the English border. On each of its four faces it bears inscriptions; on two opposite faces in Latin, and on the other two in runic characters. Each of the latter pair contains a few lines of Northern poetry, selected from a poem (doubtless by the poet Cynewulf) which is preserved in full in a much later Southern (or Wessex) copy in a MS. at Vercelli in Piedmont (Italy). On the side which Professor Stephens calls _the front_ of the cross, the runic inscriptions give us two quotations, both imperfect at the end; and the same is true of the opposite side or _back_. The MS. helps us to restore letters that are missing or broken, and in this way we can be tolerably sure of the correct readings. The two quotations in front are as follows: it will be seen that the cross itself is supposed to be the speaker. 1. [on]gered{ae} hin{ae} god almechttig tha he walde on galgu gistiga, modig fore all{ae} men; buga [ic ni darst{ae}.] 2. [ahof] ic riicn{ae} kyningc, heafun{ae}s hlafard; h{ae}lda ic ni darst{ae}. bism{ae}radu ungket men ba {ae}t-gadre. ic w{ae}s mith blod{ae} bistemid bigoten of [his sidan.] The two quotations at the back are these: 3. Crist w{ae}s on rodi; hwethr{ae} ther fus{ae} fearran cwomu {ae}ththil{ae} til anum; ic th{ae}t al biheald. sare ic w{ae}s mith sorgum gidr{oe}fid; hnag [ic hwethr{ae} tham secgum til handa.] 4. mith strelum giwundad alegdun hi{ae} hin{ae} limw{oe}rign{ae}; gistoddum him {ae}t his lic{ae}s heafdum, bihealdun hi{ae} ther heafun[{ae}s hlafard.] The literal meaning of the lines is as follows: 1. God almighty stripped Himself when He would mount upon the gallows (the cross), courageous before all men; I (the cross) durst not bow down 2. I (the cross) reared up the royal King, the Lord of heaven; I durst not bend down. men reviled us two (the cross and Christ) both together. I was moistened with the blood poured forth from His side. 3. Christ was upon the cross; howbeit, thither came eagerly from afar princes to (see) that One; I beheld all that. sorely was I afflicted with sorrows; I submitted however to the men's hands.