Riddle me this

[Tommy Atkins]

A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms. The first is full of raging fires, the second is full of assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that haven't eaten in 3 years. Which room is safest for him?

[Sandinista]

That is easy, as I think this is too...

When I am alive I do not speak.
Anyone who wants to takes me captive and cuts off my head.
They bite my bare body
I do no harm to anyone unless they cut me first.
Then I soon make them cry.

[Techno]

Not heard this one before....
But, from what you've written Tommy.....
I'd go for the room with the lions.

If they haven't eaten for three years....I'm presuming they're all dead, thus making this the safest room.
Go on.....Shoot me down in flames. ....No...Not going in that room...too hot even for me !

Cheers - Phil

[Techno]

That is easy, as I think this is too...

When I am alive I do not speak.
Anyone who wants to takes me captive and cuts off my head.
They bite my bare body
I do no harm to anyone unless they cut me first.
Then I soon make them cry.

An onion ?
Though I'm not sure about biting the bare body.....I like 'em fried 
Cheers - Phil.

[FierceKitty]

A perverse old Norse one: What has fifty-one heads, two legs, and one eye?

[Tommy Atkins]

Techno: Correct

Sandinista: The Saxons really loved their riddles, of course the answer is as Techno said 'an Onion'

FierceKitty: From Saxons we come to the Vikings. The only 'one eye' I know of is Odin, so this has got me stumped.

[Tommy Atkins]

Speaking of onions;

How did the Vikings use onions in warfare?

[Techno]

FierceKitty: From Saxons we come to the Vikings. The only 'one eye' I know of is Odin, so this has got me stumped.

Same here.....Not a clue

Speaking of onions;
How did the Vikings use onions in warfare?

Erm....Dunno...
Did they fry them, making a wonderful...."Come here and eat" aroma....Then slaughter the enemy as they queued patiently for grub ?
I'd fall for that !

Cheers - Phil.

[FierceKitty]

The Viking one is a one-eyed garlic-seller carrying fifty heads of garlic. I think the existence of such riddles says much about the desperate boredom of Scandanavian life before reliable contraception.

[Tommy Atkins]

FierceKitty: 

Techno: 

Onion soup was given to warriors with serious body wounds. If the soup could be smelt from their wounds it was known that they were unlikely to survive.