Exile In The Seafarer

The threat of exile was a major source of anxiety in Anglo-Saxon society. Exile is a long stay away from home is if often enforced, but is ocasionally self imposed. The lyrics of “The Seafarer,” “The Wanderer,” and “The Wife’s Lament” all share the common theme of exile in the Anglo- Saxon society. The threat of exile can be an eerie topic, for when exile will occur is completely unfamiliar. The lyrics of “The Seafarer,” “The Wanderer,” and “The Wife’s Lament” infer that the fundamental cause of Anglo-Saxon anxiety was caused by the threat of exile. Each of these poems, demonstrate exile in multiple different ways. Although exile is commonly enforced, it can also be self imposed, as it is in “The Seafarer.” Whether it be enforced or self …show more content…
These poems demonstrate everyone experiences exile at some point in their life. “The Seafarer,” “The Wanderer,” and “The Wife’s Lament” also exhibit one can be subjected to exile in a countless of different ways and at countless points in one’s lifetime. For example, in “The Seafarer,” the speaker’s exile was self imposed, due to he continued to travel in the exile of the harsh winter sea after discovering how truly horrible life during winter at sea. In “The Wanderer,” the narrator had lost his lord and for this reason, he no longer had anyone in his life. This sends him into a friendless exile, forcing him to set out to sea to find a new lord. Similar to “The Wanderer,” in “The Wife’s Lament,” the wife’s experiences a friendless exile after her husband or “lord” sets out on a journey at sea, leaving her all alone with nobody. Later in the poem, she is damned to exile living in a hole in the ground. These act as a few examples of why exile caused major anxiety for the Anglo-Saxon . Where some of the exile is similar, most exile demonstrated in these poems occur differently and unexpectedly. As it would for many, this caused major anxiety for the Anglo-Saxon society, for the reason that it is the fear of the unknown. One never apprehends when their exile will occur and how severe it will