The Wanderer

Question 1

Oft him anhaga are gebideð, 
metudes miltse, þeah þe he modcearig 
geond lagulade longe sceolde 
hreran mid hondum hrimcealde sæ, 
5wadan wræclastas. Wyrd bið ful aræd! 
Swa cwæð eardstapa, earfeþa gemyndig, 
wraþra wælsleahta, winemæga hryre: 
"Oft ic sceolde ana uhtna gehwylce 
mine ceare cwiþan. Nis nu cwicra nan 
10þe ic him modsefan minne durre 
sweotule asecgan. Ic to soþe wat 
þæt biþ in eorle indryhten þeaw, 
þæt he his ferðlocan fæste binde, 
healde his hordcofan, hycge swa he wille. 
15Ne mæg werig mod wyrde wiðstondan, 
ne se hreo hyge helpe gefremman. 
Forðon domgeorne dreorigne oft 
in hyra breostcofan bindað fæste; 
swa ic modsefan minne sceolde, 
20oft earmcearig, eðle bidæled,

Answer 1

Image of water like The Seafarer
1. Oft/him/anhaga/are/gebideð
2. 1-2a, double stress compound
3. lagulade (metaphor), longe (oft), sceolde (compulsion)
4. hrimcealde sæ (probably rowing, evokes suffering)
5. path of exile
6. not found in OE verse, referent, (variation?)
7.
8. Oft, ic (shift), uhtna (promise)
9. interior/exterior (cwiþan), double negative (sound)
10. minne stress (interiority)
11. wat (wisdom and isolation)
12.
13. ferðlocan (kenning, relate to secrecy), binde repetition
14. hordcofan (treasure-chamber/heart kenning)
15/16/17.
18. breostcofan (kenning), repetition binde (binding)
19. (should split from verb a lot), duty
20. earmcearig (wretched- rep of cearig= sorrow), homeland deprived common expression in OE exile verse

Question 2

freomægum feor feterum sælan, 
siþþan geara iu goldwine minne 
hrusan heolstre biwrah, ond ic hean þonan 
wod wintercearig ofer waþema gebind, 
25sohte sele dreorig sinces bryttan, 
hwær ic feor oþþe neah findan meahte 
þone þe in meoduhealle min mine wisse, 
oþþe mec freondleasne frefran wolde, 
weman mid wynnum. Wat se þe cunnað, 
30hu sliþen bið sorg to geferan, 
þam þe him lyt hafað leofra geholena. 
Warað hine wræclast, nales wunden gold, 
ferðloca freorig, nalæs foldan blæd. 
Gemon he selesecgas ond sincþege, 
35hu hine on geoguðe his goldwine 
wenede to wiste. Wyn eal gedreas! 
Forþon wat se þe sceal his winedryhtnes 
leofes larcwidum longe forþolian, 
ðonne sorg ond slæp somod ætgædre 
40earmne anhogan oft gebindað.

Answer 2

21. common expressions of deprivation in exile verse
22. years ago/formerly, wine/wyn paranomasia
23. hean=lonely
24. wintercearig (sad with age/desolate as winter)
25. sele (motif- later), sinces bryttan (kenning of sorts: lord)
27. meoduhealle (motif)
28. experience and wisdom (later: wita ne mæg weorþan wis wer, ær he age/wintra dæl in woruldrice)
29. cruel
30. ‘lyt’ for him is an understatement (litote?)
31. occupy/path of exile, a/b line contrast
32. frozen heart (life-enclosure kenning), glory of earth
33. hall-warriors (importance of sele earlier), giving of t
34. youth, unusual weight on pronouns, wine/wyn
35. wiste (feast- motif), wyn/wine, perished
36. understand, larcwidum (focus on speech?)
37. when/then repetition, sleep/sorrow (sleep like death/suspension of mind)
38. binding

Question 3

þinceð him on mode þæt he his mondryhten 
clyppe ond cysse, ond on cneo lecge 
honda ond heafod, swa he hwilum ær 
in geardagum giefstolas breac. 
45ðonne onwæcneð eft wineleas guma, 
gesihð him biforan fealwe wegas, 
baþian brimfuglas, brædan feþra, 
hreosan hrim ond snaw, hagle gemenged. 
þonne beoð þy hefigran heortan benne, 
50sare æfter swæsne. Sorg bið geniwad, 
þonne maga gemynd mod geondhweorfeð; 
greteð gliwstafum, georne geondsceawað 
secga geseldan. Swimmað eft on weg! 
Fleotendra ferð no þær fela bringeð 
55cuðra cwidegiedda. Cearo bið geniwad 
þam þe sendan sceal swiþe geneahhe 
ofer waþema gebind werigne sefan. 
Forþon ic geþencan ne mæg geond þas woruld 
for hwan modsefa min ne gesweorce, 
60þonne ic eorla lif eal geondþence,

Answer 3

41. on mode emphasise interior, pronoun proliferation
42. (repeated) ritual of ceremony (syntax)
43. ær and geardagum emphasise past
44. gift-seat/throne (lord?)
45. awakes (present) compared to breac (past), wyn/wine
46. gesihð (present), wegas (return to water imagery)
48. syntax repetition
49. oppressive,
50. geniward repeated (subj because gnomic)
51. geond repeated: through? not sure
52. eagerly survey
53. ferð (sprit/mind), fela (many: litote, dead?)
54. familiar spoken utterances (SPEECH), geniwad rep
55. sceal/sendan (verb postponement),
56. binding, werigne (weary)
57. woruld (relating to broader picture)
58. pronoun headstave (contrast to 58), metaphor ‘gesweorce’: spiritual darkness?
59. þonne (time), meditate

Question 4

hu hi færlice flet ofgeafon,
modge maguþegnas. Swa þes middangeard
ealra dogra gehwam dreoseð ond fealleþ,
forþon ne mæg weorþan wis wer, ær he age
65wintra dæl in woruldrice. Wita sceal geþyldig,
ne sceal no to hatheort ne to hrædwyrde,
ne to wac wiga ne to wanhydig,
ne to forht ne to fægen, ne to feohgifre
ne næfre gielpes to georn, ær he geare cunne.
70Beorn sceal gebidan, þonne he beot spriceð,
oþþæt collenferð cunne gearwe
hwider hreþra gehygd hweorfan wille.
Ongietan sceal gleaw hæle hu gæstlic bið,
þonne ealre þisse worulde wela weste stondeð,
75swa nu missenlice geond þisne middangeard
winde biwaune weallas stondaþ,
hrime bihrorene, hryðge þa ederas.
Woriað þa winsalo, waldend licgað
dreame bidrorene, duguþ eal gecrong,
80wlonc bi wealle. Sume wig fornom,

Answer 4

61. suddenly, flet (synecdoche), litote (died)
62. brave young warriors, ‘middangeard’ (broad, rep)
63. each and every day
64. become, wise man, age (possess), transverse/vocallic allit? (æ)
65. deal of winters, winter=time/suffering, patient (sceal adopts moral imperative, almost- theme of obligation, rep)
66. proverbial expression=concomitant sense of obligation, angry, hasty of speech
67. weak warrior, reckless, ne=defining through negative, meiosis: qualities not just bad in excess/intrinsically bad (to- rhetorical expression growing out of AS predilection for understatement)
68. afraid, joyful, greedy, rhetoric structure- homiletic origin
69. eager to boast, fully (geare- well) aware.
70. warrior, await (rep), speaks boast (gnomic/didactic)
71. until, prepared
72. where thought heart turn wishes
73. understand, wise man
    74: wela (wealth), weste (deserted/waste)
    75: (-110 speaker laments ruined city), middangeard
74. wind-blown
75. frost covered, the building snow-swept
76. decay, ruler lies dead (present tense/present grief)
77. joy deprived (com.), (proud- wlonc) band all perished
78. (proud) near the wall. some destroyed by battle

Question 5

ferede in forðwege, sumne fugel oþbær 
ofer heanne holm, sumne se hara wulf 
deaðe gedælde, sumne dreorighleor 
in eorðscræfe eorl gehydde. 
85Yþde swa þisne eardgeard ælda scyppend 
oþþæt burgwara breahtma lease 
eald enta geweorc idlu stodon. 
Se þonne þisne wealsteal wise geþohte 
ond þis deorce lif deope geondþenceð, 
90frod in ferðe, feor oft gemon 
wælsleahta worn, ond þas word acwið:

Answer 5

beasts of battle motif: bird and wolf carry off body are familiar motifs in OE battle poetry (normally warning of war, this time feast on aftermath)

anaphora: different fates of duguþ (sume is ac plural and refers to all, sumne is ac singular and refers to indiviudal fates, ‘one’)
81. carried into the way forth, one, bird carried off
82. over high sea, one, grey-haired
83. death separated, sad-faced
84. earth-cave (grave kenning), concealed
85. yþde (destroyed), city, men creator (God?)
86. until, population revelry lacking
87. ancient, giant, foundation, idle: enta geweorc in ruin (2: ‘arcane knowledge’)
88. he (wanderer?), geþohte/geondþenceð (lex variation)
89. deorce (spiritually?), meditates on
90. frod (old/wise link), spirit, remembers
91. slaughter, (emphasises negative aspect of battle- slaughter) many, says

Question 6

“Hwær cwom mearg? Hwær cwom mago? Hwær cwom maþþumgyfa?
Hwær cwom symbla gesetu? Hwær sindon seledreamas?
Eala beorht bune! Eala byrnwiga!
95Eala þeodnes þrym! Hu seo þrag gewat,
genap under nihthelm, swa heo no wære.

Answer 6

Anaphora: lament on transience of earthly things (perhaps derived from ‘ubi sunt’ passages in Latin homilies/emphasises sense of loss pervading poem)

92. horse, young warrior, giver of treasure (kenning)
93. gesetu (nom plural is subj of sing past3 verb for conformity to rhetorical balance), seats of the feast, joys in the hall
94. ANAPHORA (elevate emotion)alas bright cup, mailed warrior
95. glory of the prince, þrag (time- given agency, transience, nom sing), departed
96. grow dark, no (headstave, emphasises LACK)

Question 7

Stondeð nu on laste leofre duguþe
weal wundrum heah, wyrmlicum fah.
Eorlas fornoman asca þryþe,
100wæpen wælgifru, wyrd seo mære,
ond þas stanhleoþu stormas cnyssað,
hrið hreosende hrusan bindeð,
wintres woma, þonne won cymeð,
nipeð nihtscua, norþan onsendeð
105hreo hæglfare hæleþum on andan.
Eall is earfoðlic eorþan rice,
onwendeð wyrda gesceaft weoruld under heofonum.
Her bið feoh læne, her bið freond læne,
her bið mon læne, her bið mæg læne,
110eal þis eorþan gesteal idel weorþeð!”
Swa cwæð snottor on mode, gesæt him sundor æt rune.
Til biþ se þe his treowe gehealdeþ, ne sceal næfre his torn to rycene
beorn of his breostum acyþan, nemþe he ær þa bote cunne,
eorl mid elne gefremman. Wel bið þam þe him are seceð,
115frofre to fæder on heofonum, þær us eal seo fæstnung stondeð.

Answer 7

97. laste (tracks)
98. acc eorlas/nom asca- surprising/irony/undermine
99. variation (greedy for slaughter), wyrd headstave power
100. stormas headstave, nature VS man (if wall, not cliff)
101. present partic (struggle), binding
102. woma (terror), wintres (winter/years/time), darkness
103. darkness imagery VS resolution
104. hreo (fierce), hæglfare (hailstorm), andan (malice)
105. earfoðlic (fraught with hardships)
106. gesceaft (destiny), earth/heaven divide
107. anaphora: prosperity, friend
108. man, kinsman/womna
109. gesteal (foundation)
     double alliteration, hypermetric verse, gnomic/homiletic/didactic, interpolation?
     lots of general pronouns (he/his)
110. hapax, referent, isolation/wisdom
111. gnomic, subjunctive, torn (anger) rycene (quickly)
112. beorn (warrior), acyþan (reveal), until, bote (remedy)
113. gefremman (do), are- delayed/reflects beginning
114. frofre (comfort), fæstnung (security)
     contrast between earthly insecurity/heavenly security

Question 8

General themes

Answer 8

1. Age/wisdom
2. Isolation/wisdom/exile
3. Time/transience
4. Commitatus code, warrior culture
5. Religious resolution/God
6. Earth VS heaven
7. Man VS natural world

Question 9

Must mention

Answer 9

1. Frame structure
2. 3rd/1st person shifts
3. Past/present tense shifts
4. Considered an A-S elegy
5. Retrospective poem

Question 10

Structure

Answer 10

1-5: religious frame
6-29a: first-person rendering of lone dweller’s cares
29b-57: third-person description of isolation
58: first person returns (briefly)
65b-87: proffers wisdom on importance of moderation in fleeting world
88-110: speaker again introduced who considers dark life and outlines disappearance of joy
111-115: religious frame, security of heaven