One can wonder what our ancestors did for recreation absent video screens.  After a steady rain in the evening, the morning dawned with light rain and a gusting wind.  Out of doors plans made little sense under these conditions.  To remain dry and warm the day would be spent indoors.  Like many middle class Americans I have a excess of options for engaging the mind for refreshment on such a day.  I have a decent collection of books, cable television, an iphone, and a good collection of old fashioned music CDs.  There is a overabundance of things to do.

I recall visiting with my grandparents on their North Carolina farm when I was a kid in the 1950s.  They had a vacuum tube radio in the house, and a wide front porch furnished with four or five rocking chairs.  When afforded a day of rest from the hard labor of earning their sustenance, time spent in conversation on the front porch was highly prized.  Those rocking chairs were much used.  Visits by relatives or neighbors were anticipated and reflected upon for days afterward.

And so it has been for much of human history.  The spoken word in the presence of the speaker, provided respite from labor, and stimulation for the infinitely curious mind.  Things were no different in 10th century Anglo-Saxon England.

There were no playing cards yet in the year 1000.  Chess was enjoyed, and served as a mental preparation for war, a war-game.  In that day chess games were more drawn out than today as the Queen was one of the weaker pieces on the board.  In the 15th century the queen was given a wider range of moves, and she became a superpower of the board.  Amusement was found in the word, in their riddles which were often quite poetic.   Here is a riddle taken from The Exeter Book that survives in the Cathedral Library at Exeter.

Can you guess the meaning of the riddle?

I am a strange creature, for I satisfy women….
I grow very tall, erect in bed,
I am hairy underneath. From time to time
A beautiful girl, the brave daughter
Of some fellow dares to hold me
Grips my reddish 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: An onion.

What other answer were you thinking of?