The Exeter Book :: Old English Poetry Literature Essays

The Exeter Book The Exeter Book is the largest existing collection of Old English poetry. The manuscript was given to the library of Exeter Cathedral by its first bishop, Leofric, at the balance of the tenth century. The book consists of 131 parch handst leaves which measure approximately 12.5 by 8.6 inches. The to the highest degree famous works contained in the Exeter Book include The Wanderer, The Wifes threnody, The Seafarer, and Wulf and Eadwacer. In addition to the 31 major poetrys, 96 riddles are as well included in the collection. The manuscript was likely copied by a single scribe in 975, though The Wanderer is though to date cover version to the Anglo-Saxon tribes conversion to Christianity in the sixth century. The Wifes Lament may have pre-dated The Wanderer because it offers none of the typical Christian comfortableness for her despair and appears to reflect a pre-conversion, pagan attitude towards ones fate (The Exeter Book). two poems are invaluable resources in their depiction of the precepts and roles of men and women in Anglo-Saxon society. The Wanderer is an elegy, or a lament for the dead and the glories of the past. The narrator of the poem has lost his kin in battle and is wandering alone and contemplating the blase nature of life. It is clear that the narrator respects the comitatus, the bond of loyalty surrounded by a lord and his warriors, as is illustrated when he rec anys embracing and kissing his vassal lord and laying his hands and his head on his knee (Wanderer 101). The unemotional attitude of the narrator is reflective of the Anglo-Saxon culture in which men were supposed to be brave and unemotional. Despite this convention, the narrators sorrow is strongly conveyed in the Ubi Sunt (Where are they?) passage when he asks, Where has the horse deceased? Where the young warrior? Where is the giver of the treasure? (Wanderer 101). The narrators lament too displays the permeating cultural belief that everything in life is predetermined by fate. This is seen when the narrator envisions the end of the world in everlasting winter when whole the earths kingdom is wretched and the world beneath the skies is changed by the work of the fates (Wanderer 102). The poem ends with a strong reference to Christianity in the lines, It volition be well with him who seeks favor, comfort from the Father in heaven, where for us all stability resides (Wanderer 102).