As I rode along one evening fair
The shadows they were dancing in the twilight air
The wind was on the mountain and whispered in the trees
And there the Riddle-Rhymer came a'riding
His skin was a pale as the winter cold
His fingers they were slender as the gallows pole
He stopped his horse in front of me, his eyes a gleaming red
Laid his hand upon my shoulder then he softly said:
"I can make you wise as all the stories ever told
I can make you greater than the kings of old
But if you play the riddle-rhymes and you should lose to me
You shall take my place upon the gallows"
"Tell me, what is rounder than a wheel?
And where is spread the daintiest of any meal?
And what leaves the deepest and most terrible of stains?
And tell me, whose voice sounds the loudest?"
"The sun it is rounder than any wheel
In heaven's spread the daintiest of any meal
The deepest and most terrible of any stain is sin
The loudest voice of all is the thunder"
"Tell me the name of the tree that grows
With roots up to heaven and its top below
Tell me, what's the bridge with the broadest ever span?
And who thinkest thou to be the ugliest man?"
"The icicle's the name of the tree that grows
With roots up to heaven and its top below
Ice is the bridge with the broadest ever span
The ugliest of men is the Dwarf King"
"Who is the king who has never been crowned?
And where dwells the fiery Prince of Hell?
Answer me these final riddles right and truthfully
And I shall give thee all the wonders that I promised thee"
"There isn't any king who has never been crowned
The Prince of Hell dwells far beneath the ground
Now grant to me the many things that you have promised me
Or else be a cheater and a liar!"
"I am the king who has never been crowned
The Prince of Hell is standing here before you now
Fare thee well! Your time is up - for you have answered wrong
Soon you shall be swinging from the gallows"
As the chapel bells and the clock struck two
Away into the night a black raven flew
With nothing but his wicked laughter howling on the breeze
Leaving me to fall into the shadows
The morning, I awoke in a cold, cold sweat
The hangman's noose tied around my neck
I cursed that I had ever met the stranger on the road
As I fell to my death upon the gallows
