U5 L4 Elegies, Riddles, And Gnomes Flashcards
What is an elegy?
- formal poem
- serious subject
What is Widsith?
- elegy
- 7th cent
- about traveling minstrel who told stories about heroes
- describes 50 tribes
- set in pre-Anglo-Saxon times
What is most likely the oldest poem in English?
Widsith
What were the main characters of most old English elegies?
Exiles
What is the Wanderer and the Seafarer?
- elegiac monologues
- questions about salvation
What do the 2 parts of the Wanderer tell?
1-searching for a new lord, his lord died
2-flashback to former happines and meadhall
How did the poet end the Wanderer?
it is good to seek God’s forgiveness and to keep the faith
When was the Seafarer most likely written?
5 or 6th century
What books contains The Seafarer?
The Exeter Book
What are examples of works about the sea?
- Biblical accounts of the Flood
- parting of Red Sea
- works by Cynewulf
What is the Seafarer about?
- sailor’s adventures and perils
- hard times at sea
- his doubts
- mortality of humans
- fame can be accomplished by work against the devil
What form is the Seafarer composed in?
Soliloquy
How does the Seafarer end?
- idea of futility (uselessness) of life
- especially the life of a sinner
What does The seafarer find uncertain?
- age
- illness
- hostility
What is the Ruin about?
remains of a roman city in England
When was the Ruin most likely written?
- 8th cent
- 300 years after Romans left England
What do Old English riddles describe?
objects and animals common to people of the time
What could have influenced Old English riddles?
riddles in Latin
Does a person’s ability to solve a riddle partially dependent on their experiences?
yes
What is the length of a gnome?
brief
What do Gnomes express?
- principle of life
- rule of conduct
- general truth
- proverbs
- morals
- nature
Can Gnomes be combined into groups? What is an example?
- yes
- The Exeter Book: Gnomic Verses
