Riddles

[Deadpangod3]

Life?

Tenchar

[Starwhip]

Plants. The "rows" would be the crop rows. Vines grow in spirals up. There are billions of plants on Earth, and they can grow very large. I guess the "evil" would be like parasites or deforestation, which would kill most of the plants.

EDIT: If I got this in one shot, you might have some serious competition.

[vexx32]

Life?

Nope

Plants. The "rows" would be the crop rows. Vines grow in spirals up. There are billions of plants on Earth, and they can grow very large. I guess the "evil" would be like parasites or deforestation, which would kill most of the plants.

EDIT: If I got this in one shot, you might have some serious competition.

Close, but no dice.

The final two lines refers to building; plants are not all built on top of one another. Vines and things might be an exception of sorts, but no... The building is universal -- there are no restrictions applied to it in the riddle.

[Helix935]

hmm how about leaves on a tree

[Lord_Potato]

Wood or logs.

Millions and millions and billions of I,

There's lots of wood on the planet.

All lined up in rows, straight and sly.

Neither beaten fast nor bound together,

Stacking logs for transport or storage.

If evil approaches from beside or beneath,

Die we shall upon the midnight heath.

Shifting and shrieking amongst my kin,

We stand tall and strong despite the din;

Lighting wood on fire.

Sometimes twining skyward up to heaven,

Building tall buildings with wood.

Sometimes crawling over ground unriven.

Large expanses of housing that is made of wood.

Build us small, and we may murmur,

Fires with less wood are smaller.

But build us tall and our voices shimmer.

Big fires have more wood, stacked high.

[vexx32]

hmm how about leaves on a tree

Nope.

Wood or logs.

Millions and millions and billions of I,

There's lots of wood on the planet.

All lined up in rows, straight and sly.

Neither beaten fast nor bound together,

Stacking logs for transport or storage.

If evil approaches from beside or beneath,

Die we shall upon the midnight heath.

Shifting and shrieking amongst my kin,

We stand tall and strong despite the din;

Lighting wood on fire.

Sometimes twining skyward up to heaven,

Building tall buildings with wood.

Sometimes crawling over ground unriven.

Large expanses of housing that is made of wood.

Build us small, and we may murmur,

Fires with less wood are smaller.

But build us tall and our voices shimmer.

Big fires have more wood, stacked high.

Nope. How does one define "one" wood? It doesn't make sense to number wood in such a manner.

[Starwhip]

Well how about hedges or shrubs... but that doesn't seem right. You can't really build with plants.

[vexx32]

Aye, that you cannot.

[Deadpangod3]

You can with wood though, lots of it...

Forests?

[MrHappyFace]

Ants!

Millions and millions and billions of I,

There's millions of 'em

All lined up in rows, straight and sly.

Neither beaten fast nor bound together,

If evil approaches from beside or beneath,

Die we shall upon the midnight heath.

if a person were to step on them, they would die

Shifting and shrieking amongst my kin,

We stand tall and strong despite the din;

they keep fighting back and drag the bodies of their fallen kin to safety (I've seen it)

Sometimes twining skyward up to heaven,

they sometimes build really tall ant piles

Sometimes crawling over ground unriven.

sometimes, they crawl around outside their hills for food or they dont have homes

Build us small, and we may murmur,

the smaller hills are easier to destroy(I speak from 1st hand experience)

But build us tall and our voices shimmer.

the larger hills are harder to destroy(again, from 1st hand experience)

[Deadpangod3]

Ants!

Millions and millions and billions of I,

There's millions of 'em

All lined up in rows, straight and sly.

Neither beaten fast nor bound together,

If evil approaches from beside or beneath,

Die we shall upon the midnight heath.

if a person were to step on them, they would die

Shifting and shrieking amongst my kin,

We stand tall and strong despite the din;

they keep fighting back and drag the bodies of their fallen kin to safety (I've seen it)

Sometimes twining skyward up to heaven,

they sometimes build really tall ant piles

Sometimes crawling over ground unriven.

sometimes, they crawl around outside their hills for food or they dont have homes

Build us small, and we may murmur,

the smaller hills are easier to destroy(I speak from 1st hand experience)

But build us tall and our voices shimmer.

the larger hills are harder to destroy(again, from 1st hand experience)

Or bees

(Tenchar)

[Noname117]

I almost want to guess skyscrapers, but the death lines make that guess sort of weird...

Maybe construction cranes?

the millions upon billions and rows make that one not work... I'll think about it some more

[vexx32]

Ants!

Millions and millions and billions of I,

There's millions of 'em

All lined up in rows, straight and sly.

Neither beaten fast nor bound together,

If evil approaches from beside or beneath,

Die we shall upon the midnight heath.

if a person were to step on them, they would die

Shifting and shrieking amongst my kin,

We stand tall and strong despite the din;

they keep fighting back and drag the bodies of their fallen kin to safety (I've seen it)

Sometimes twining skyward up to heaven,

they sometimes build really tall ant piles

Sometimes crawling over ground unriven.

sometimes, they crawl around outside their hills for food or they dont have homes

Build us small, and we may murmur,

the smaller hills are easier to destroy(I speak from 1st hand experience)

But build us tall and our voices shimmer.

the larger hills are harder to destroy(again, from 1st hand experience)

Or bees

(Tenchar)

Primary problem with both these interpretations is that at first you're describing the creatures, and then you shift inexplicably to describing their dwellings.

I almost want to guess skyscrapers, but the death lines make that guess sort of weird...

Maybe construction cranes?

the millions upon billions and rows make that one not work... I'll think about it some more

Nope

[Specialist290]

I'm tempted to say "windmills."

[vexx32]

Sorry, nope

I can't say I've ever seen windmills lined up in rows of millions... xD

[Helix935]

how about grass or maybe even wheat

[KvickFlygarn87]

One does not build with grass nor wheat, Helix.

My guess is atoms?

[Halsfury]

The answer must be men

2 reasons, the narrator says "me, I'm grown just once ever so clever" and if we are "built tall" our voices shimmer/ are louder when combined

Or the ones of us who are "built tall" have a deeper voice

Also, Evil never besets men from above, only his neighbour "from beside" or from natural disasters "from beneath" or "from beneath" could be a reference to the devil

EDIT: also we can be in rows, we are straight (upright) and definitely sly

Edited December 20, 2013 by Halsfury

[vexx32]

how about grass or maybe even wheat

Nope

One does not build with grass nor wheat, Helix.

My guess is atoms?

Not really, no. It fits most of the riddle, but not all of it.

The answer must be men

2 reasons, the narrator says "me, I'm grown just once ever so clever" and if we are "built tall" our voices shimmer/ are louder when combined

Or the ones of us who are "built tall" have a deeper voice

Also, Evil never besets men from above, only his neighbour "from beside" or from natural disasters "from beneath" or "from beneath" could be a reference to the devil

EDIT: also we can be in rows, we are straight (upright) and definitely sly

It must be whatever I say it is.

And it is not men. Men don't 'twine skyward up to heaven' xD They're not that​ tall.

[Halsfury]

It must be whatever I say it is.

And it is not men. Men don't 'twine skyward up to heaven' xD They're not that​ tall.

Thinking metaphorically, also no intent to proclaim the answer, it's your riddle after all

But what is clever, sly, straight, can't be put in a bundle, and yet can be built so high that it can poetically twine yet individually can crawl quite meekly across the earth?

You said that plants were close to the answer a while ago, what plants are clever/sly?

EDIT: but it goes over wild lands (ground unriven)

Edited December 21, 2013 by Halsfury

[Helix935]

is it rocks or maybe mountains

[Halsfury]

I know that everyone has passed it over, but it seems to me that trees fit the description

I know the bit about building is hazardous for my theory but surely even though you can't build a tree, you can certainly prevent it from attaining it's full height by trimming (banzai trees) and surely this is artificial enough that it may be called "building" for wont of a better word

But they certainly are big enough that you can't bind them together, they are also quite tall but their roots crawl over the ground

[vexx32]

Thinking metaphorically, also no intent to proclaim the answer, it's your riddle after all

But what is clever, sly, straight, can't be put in a bundle, and yet can be built so high that it can poetically twine yet individually can crawl quite meekly across the earth?

You said that plants were close to the answer a while ago, what plants are clever/sly?

EDIT: but it goes over wild lands (ground unriven)

I said plants were close. That does not necessarily mean I'm looking for a specific plant.

is it rocks or maybe mountains

Nope

I know that everyone has passed it over, but it seems to me that trees fit the description

I know the bit about building is hazardous for my theory but surely even though you can't build a tree, you can certainly prevent it from attaining it's full height by trimming (banzai trees) and surely this is artificial enough that it may be called "building" for wont of a better word

But they certainly are big enough that you can't bind them together, they are also quite tall but their roots crawl over the ground

Sorry, but the building is somewhat more literal than that. Restricting is not building, it is diminishing. A building, by definition, is something constructed from something else. Restricting a tree from attaining height is more akin to sculpting than it is to building; the shape is attained by removal of unwanted parts, not addition of any.

[Helix935]

Sorry, but the building is somewhat more literal than that. Restricting is not building, it is diminishing. A building, by definition, is something constructed from something else. Restricting a tree from attaining height is more akin to sculpting than it is to building; the shape is attained by removal of unwanted parts, not addition of any.

what about 3D printing

also back to the riddle how about ice

[Skyler4856]

Thoughts?

Maybe?