these riddles are all from The Hobbit, from the chapter entitled 'riddles in the dark' where gollum has a competition with another hobbit called bilbo baggins in his underground cave. The answers to the riddles are at the bottom of the page, but see if you can guess them first.
1.
What has roots that nobody sees,
Is taller than trees
Up, up it goes,
And yet never grows?
2.
Voiceless it cries,
Wingless flutters,
Toothless bites,
Mouthless mutters.
3.
It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
Cannot be heard, canot be smelt.
It lies behind stars and under hills,
And empty holes it fills.
It comes first and follows after,
Ends life, kills laughter.
4.
Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
all in mail, never clinking.
5.
This thing all things devours:
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Knaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down.
answers:
1. a mountain
2. wind
3. dark
4. fish
5. time