I am taken from the world to give judgment.
I could be the devil with the power of the fool.
Together with the traitor we are death;
A difference to he and she who rule.
Before the sign of the unknown,
Mine own in front of the old man is found.
As you see, to some I am I,
But to others I am he who will confound.
Who or what am I?
I believe the very word "arcanum" is the answer to this riddle.
"I am taken from the world to give judgment." Arcanum means secrecy or mystery, what combines reasonably to this first sentence. One can't judge what he doesn't know.
"I could be the devil with the power of the fool." This one is not very clear for me, but arcanum also means "mysterious knowledge", what can be somewhat related to this sentence.
"Together with the traitor we are death." The word secrecy here fits very well, because an unknown traitor can ultimately fulfill his plot.
"A difference to he or she who rule." Arcanum is from the Latin arcanus (closed, secret), from arca (chest, box). Certainly the ruler's chest would distinguish well a male ruler from a female one.
"Before the sign of the unknown, mine own in front of the old man is found." From the translation above, the word "box" can be changed to casket or coffin, giving the meaning of the unknown as the afterlife and the box as one's deathbed.
The last two sentences' meaning also dwells around mystery, confounding some but being solved by others.
Even though I ain't one hundred percent sure of this, my answer to the riddle would be Arcanum (or "you are Arcanum").
Edited on June 15, 2006, 11:22 am
A good guess
