It is a recipe for a medieval book: the animal killed, its skin soaked, dried and scraped into parchment, folded into pages, written on with a quill, the bird’s joy, and bound in boards. The riddle goes on to say it makes people wiser and holier, so it is a holy book.
An enemy robbed me of my life and took my strength. Then he soaked me, dunked me in water, pulled me out and set me in the sun, where I lost all my hair. A knife’s hard edge scraped me clean. Fingers folded me, and the bird’s joy ran over me again and again, leaving dark tracks. A hero bound me in boards, covered me in hide and decked me in gold. What am I?
Give me a hintThe hint
It began as an animal’s skin and ended up in a church.