Imagining another time and place far distant from where a person currently lives can be difficult. Popular culture and stories often confuse what the reality might be for those from long ago and far away. Anachronisms of people, events, clothing, and how one lived are easy to add into any perceptions. England during the period of Old English is one time period when those who are not familiar with it might be mistaken about what life was like for those who lived then. Mention Old English and what comes to mind is often what existed of the island nation many generations later. There were no knights in shining armor or damsels in distress wearing fancy dresses. Kings that ruled vast territories and commanded large armies on horseback wouldn’t exist for a few hundred years. Such romantic scenes are much later during the middle ages, if they ever really existed outside of imaginative works of art and letters.
The real Old English time period was more humble and rather dangerous. It is placed between the time that Rome left the island because of internal and external threats to its own empire, and Alfred the Great’s son becomes the ruler of England. The poems were written when tribes led by chieftains fought for land and survival. Often foreign invaders (and a bit later the Vikings) sought to conquer the locals. Factions rose and fell with deadly skirmishes to take control or revenge. The common folk mostly either lived off the land when there was a good season of crop growth, or fought in wars commanded by the local Lords. Disease was rampant and death a basic part of life. Fortifications were often nothing more than the local church house or manor. There was no reliable safety from raiders or soldiers. It was an untamed frontier filled with immigrants.
Dates for when The Seafarer and The Wanderer were written is not exactly known. As with most Old English poems, they were preserved in the Anglo-Saxon Exeter Book as part of its collection. They came from the time described above when living was hard and Christianity the newly dominant cultural religion. Both have clear similarities in descriptions, moods, and themes in the text. No doubt they were written by different authors, but came from the the same kind of life experiences voyaging away from their original home. The commonalities are very intriguing and give some insight into what it was like during a chaotic period of history.
What stands out before anything else is the cold. The poems start out describing a chilling season in the dead of winter. Alone on a ship they feel sorrow and fear among the ice filled waves crashing against their ships. In The Seafarer he is brought by a “night watch” to the prow or above deck to witness the dangerous sea thrashing its waves. The night watch is just as scared, as they move precariously next to the cliffs that could dash the ship into pieces. In The Wanderer, the poet says they are controlling the direction of the ship in the harsh winter ice waters. Both of them fear for their lives, but they also have much more personal concerns.
The reasons why The Seafarer is traveling is not spelled out in the poem. He is much more concerned with the voyage itself. The Wanderer on the other hand is much more clear on what brought him across these cold winter waters to travel in exile. At first it seemed that he might have killed his Lord, since “I hid my Lord in the darkness of the Earth,” and refuses to tell anyone. Later on in the poem there is more hints of what happened. He sleeps and remembers all the good times had before forced to leave the home he once knew. But, he wakes up to remember the terrible condition he finds himself in traveling alone on the sea as a stranger to all. He describes how “war took off some” and destroyed a city. Bodies were ravaged by birds and wolves, if they weren’t buried first like the Lord he put in the dark of the Earth. Most likely the wanderer escaped death during a violent invasion of his homeland. The poem might have been written as a declaration of survivors guilt.
Hints are dropped in both poems that the writers are old and nearing the end of their lives. For The Wanderer all his friends and kinsmen are long gone, indicating years have past since he left home. He states that “a man cannot call himself wise” unless he has years behind them. They need to learn how not to be too eager or too greedy in his behavior. They must think before they make promises and act, having gotten rid of boastful pride. After all, the Wanderer most likely saw the results of a less wise life with the destruction of his homeland. The destruction left by a North Hailstorm was mostly likely a metaphor suggesting the invaders who sacked his old place. The Seafarer is no less thoughtful about the past, although in less specific terms. He looks at the world around him and questions where all the great kings and rulers have gone. He longs for the days when kings were doers of good and giver of treasure to the deserving. Those who remain are weak and live off the past actions of others. He then describes the physical condition of a dying (if not already dead) man with pale face, failing body, graying beard, and eventually losing all senses. Giving the dead gold buried with them does not improve their lost condition. The release of death is the end of exile.
Exile in life for the Seafarer is self-determined, not based on any force of evacuation by violence. Despite all the cold and sorrowful outlook on life, something internal draws him to take to the waters. The poem’s perspective is from the winter months, but other seasons are mentioned. He talks about the Groves that blossom, indicating the springtime and new beginnings. The crops in the fields grow along with the size of cities. There is a feeling of renewal that strengthens the resolve to once again leave the sedentary life and become an exile on a voyage again. Not that all is well with the spring starting a new season of travel. The sound of the cuckoo bird in the summer is a sign of the hardships that lucky rich warriors cannot understand. But, he doesn’t want that kind of life. Staying secure on the land is a kind of death, when he really wants to follow the whale’s path wherever fate might take him. He trusts in the Lord of Heaven more than the insecurities of mortal life.
Underneath the hardships, declared sorrows, ice cold waters, and hail storms, the poems are not about the physical journeys of exiled sailors. There is a religious and moral message that both of them want to pass on to the readers. Once again, what they have to say is very similar to each other with only slight disagreements or differences. The Seafarer is much more direct in his approach to what he is wanting the reader to spiritually understand. As a traveler who seeks to find a home in a foreign land, the least he has to worry about is his Lord. No earthly pleasures of music, women, glory, or any such mortal experiences exist for him. The treasures of the world don’t last very long. All people’s lives end either with disease, old age, or at the end of a sword in a violent struggle. Living a life full of good deeds is all that remains. Those who do good in the world will be remembered by those who come after, while the angels in heaven share in the joy of an eternal reward. The wanderer agrees that life is harsh and hardly worth the trouble. He councils to not talk about the grief and sorrow they are feeling unless they “already know the remedy” - that most likely means religious instructions. The only one who can understand the inner turmoil and help sooth the raw emotions is the father in heaven, or God. In both poems, it is the next life for those who live good lives where true treasures and happiness can be found.
In the modern Western world communication allows people to instantaneous communicate to anyone far away from each other. The idea that we can be exiled or do so on our own is not easily geographically probable anymore. For most of human history it only took going a few miles away from a city or settlement to become lost. Yet, some studies have suggested that we humans are alone as individuals like never before. The Internet might be a place of infinite personal connections with those we know and people we will never meet, but we remain like The Wanderer hiding our true selves. We keep our experiences locked within our hearts and minds even when letting the whole world see our lives. It is a psychological exile where the search for new information and experiences masks the loss or lack of real relationships. Considering the poems views, the world has changed only cosmetically. We break up into factions while wars continue to destroy towns and cities. People seek self-made exile in video games and other quasi reality entertainment, while not paying attention to other people. It can be a lonely and sad existence equal to the Seafarer and Wanderer.
Consider the questions:
Why do you think the two poems are so similar in theme and viewpoint?
How can you compare the personalities of the two exiles by the differences?
What might the reasons be today for a person to take a very long or seasonal journey?
