Guddick

A guddick is a traditional Shetland riddle.

Jakob Jakobsen heard the following guddick on Unst, in the 1890s. The same riddle is also known from Iceland and the Faroes.

The Norn orthography is Jakobsen's own.

Shetland Norn (Jakob Jakobsen) Fira honga, fira gonga, Fira staad upo "skø" Twa veestra vaig a bee And een comes atta driljandi.

Faroese Fýra hanga, fýra ganga, Fýra standa uppí ský Tvey vísa veg á bø Og ein darlar aftast

English translation Four hang, four walk, Four stand skyward, Two show the way to the field And one comes shaking behind

Icelandic Fjórir hanga, fjórir ganga, Fjórir veg vísa, Tveir fyrir hundum verja Einn eftir drallar, sá er oftast saurugur

The answer is a cow. Four (udders) hang, four (legs) walk, two horns and two ears point to the sky, and two eyes show the way to the field and one tail comes shaking (dangling) behind.