Project description
Reflecting on the Exeter elegies: “The Seafarer,” “The Wanderer,” and “The Wife’s Lament”
Your careful reading and comprehension should enable you to provide many examples to support each of your claims. Answer each question in a well-constructed power paragraph (11-21 sentences).
1.What do these three elegies reflect about the Anglo Saxon time period? Use ideas from your chart to inspire your reflection.

2.The common motif in each elegy is exile. Explain.

Notes-
Anglo- saxon period 449-1066-1st literacy period of British literature
-brief overview of Julius casear sets off to british isles to conquer the celtic people. Soon the brition people adapt/depend on roman (urban) empire.
-anglo-saxon period lasted several decades
-growth of christanity roman empire collapse in british isles, yet Christianity survived
-by 960 most britian population was Christian
-danish invasion ( northen Europeans or Vikings) invade north/eastern England
-one dane became king of England (successful won support of anglo saxon noblemen
The Seafarer notes
-Allegory- a tale in vere or prose in which characters actions or setting represent * abstract ideas or moral qualities* learn something and or life lesson (based on setting or characters)
– Elegy—a poem of mourning usually lamenating the death of an indivisual or passing of life and beauty *what is being mourned and or what is being lost (PROOF)*
– Anglo saxon poetry-
Warriors
Mead halls- men only, beer, feast and drink to victories and losses
Mistreles-poetry-songs-4 beats every line and pause after 2nd beat
Kennings- anglo saxon metaphor an elaborate and indirect way of meaning of naming of persons things or events
Pg. 85-89 more Christian b/c always references God not a lot of alliteration or beats
Christian refernces: page 81 lines 95-105 ) living life humbly = go to heaven
“hidden on Earth rases to heaven
Lines 120-125 prayer to god
Line 125 “Eternal unchanging creator of earth, Amen
Pagen references: lines 115 “fate is stronger”
Lines 124
Followed by 1 single word (Allegory) -“Amen”
More wisdom literature of Christian viewpoint
Metaphor of challeges of life which teaches Christians to be faithful/ not to give up on their beliefs
-Told viewpoint of seafarer- reminences on life lived
Lines 1-339 desolate hardships of wintery sea “it snowed from the north” line 31b) to spring “groves assume bloosm” line48a) and to summer “the cuckoo forebodes/forwarns” line53a) =time passes seasons of winter
He, seafarer wants to leave: why is he isolated? HE CHOOSES= he isolated himself because he took fate into own hands (Fate reference- line 115, “fate is stronger”) = he doesn’t think he is going to go to heaven because he went against god lines 104-120
This is more elgory because fate is stronger
Page 85-89= summary: speaker of poem tells audience that he can make a true song about his background of pain and sufferidng he encountered through his traveling. The sights and hearings are completely unsatisfying and down. yet main focus is that of overcoming hardships in life and not allowing evil to dwell in the life. Speaker: tells us to fear god cus = unnatural not too, nad if you don’t youll be unparpared in the after life, so live humble and thank god. Setting: takes place at sea (stormy). Themes: 1) suffering-speaker declares many personal life sufferings and his tough journey. 2) spiritually- there were two conceptions of god- a) similar to anglo-saxon idea=fate (life/death) b) heaven-don’t worry about fate but be humble in life to get hime to heaven. 3) man vs nature- rough journey (dark/stormy) reflects inside speakers mind (journey = rough/fleeing in person rough too) drewy/sadness even through its spring yet spring mrans another journey soon.
The Wanderer
-Christianity for the pagan world references the lord throughout poem
1. comparison check: what happened to cause the poems titles character to become a wanderer? Upon being excelled the wanderer was forced to travel the barren world alon in hopes of finding a new lord under whom they could serve (invasion of England) –Loners were forced to themselves for comfort
2. emotions in poem- melancholy and lonileness because it was a forced out of country much loneliness / depression happened , a struggle with faith identity occurred (ex: highschool because highschoolers are confused finding themselves but at end of the day can reflect or turn to god)
Wanderers present life and feelings- Christian to pagan world intro of christianity + culture to anglo saxon culture blending many beliefs, heavenly rock=foundation
The wanderer cant share his feeling sbecuase as a man it is unacceptable to share feelings aloud so he is constantly asking the lord for understandment. Also, repletion is hr must not speak what is on his mind, yet in his head he tells what he disires of old life.
The wifes lament
Written in the first person, the titular wife begins by saying that her words come from a “deep sadness”, which is a result of her exile. She has never experienced hardship like this before. She is tortured by her isolation.
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She explains that her misery began when her lord left their family and sailed away, leaving her behind. She was consumed with anxiety about his whereabouts. Taking action, she decided to undertake a quest to find him, setting out as a lonely and “friendless wanderer.” However, her lord’s kinsmen did not want the couple to be reunited and devised plans to keep them on opposite sides of the “wide world.” The CONTINUED separation left the wife heartbroken and longing for her husband.
She shares that ultimately, her lord requested her to live with him in a new country. She moved to this strange place where she had no friends, which made her sad and lonely. Also, she quickly discovered that her husband had been plotting behind her back. Beneath his proclamations of love, “behind [his] smiling face,” he was actually planning to commit mortal crimes. She remembers the good times of their marriage, when they had sworn to each other that only death could part them. Sadly, she relays, she realized that she could never feel fondness for this man again. Their friendship vanished as if it had never existed in the first place.
The Wife CONTINUED to face hardship as a result of her wayward lord and his ongoing schemes. To stay safe, she went to live in a forest grove in a cave under an oak tree, and that where she is writing her lament. The cavern is very old and leaves her filled with longing. The landscape around her is bleak, the valleys are “gloomy,” the hills are high, the strongholds are overgrown with briars, and there is no joy to be found anywhere.
The Wife describes her despair over her estrangement from her husband. She thinks of happy lovers who lie together in bed on summer days while she lives alone in the earth-cave under the oak tree. She is unable to quiet her mind or find any relief from her suffering.
She resents the fact that young women are supposed to be serious and courageous, hiding their heartaches behind a smiling face.
She finishes her lament by invoking her husband again. She does not know if he has conquered his fate, or if he is exiled in another land, sitting beneath cliffs before the stormy sea, cold in body and weary in mind. The Wife knows that her husband is also filled with anguish and constantly reminded of the happy home he has lost. She muses that grief is always present for those who are separated from a loved one.
ANALYSIS :
“The Wife’s Lament” is one of the most recognizable Anglo-Saxon elegies. Some scholars actually classify the piece as a Frauenlied, which is the German term for a woman’s song. Either way, it is one of the first and only examples of a female-authored poem (or a poem written from a female perspective) in early British literature. An elegy is a lament for someone or something that has been lost, often to death. The Anglo-Saxon poets commonly employed an elegiac