The Wanderer And The Seafarer Analysis

In medieval literature, the unknown authors of the Old English elegies use the voice of an unidentifiable narrator to offer descriptions of devastated landscapes and personal hardships. However, while the unknown authors of the Old English elegies present similar themes across their respective works, they do not present similar opinions on overarching concerns, like the earthly community. This is an idea that is interwoven into the framework of the Old English elegies “The Wanderer” and “The Seafarer”. By comparing and contrasting these two works, this paper will argue that the narrators’ vivid descriptions of the landscape, unique feelings surrounding their exile, and climactic perspectives on the earthly community function solely for the …show more content…
Incidentally, the exile of each narrator has consequences on their climactic view of the earthly …show more content…
Where the unknown author of “The Wanderer” seamlessly coalesces the ideas of paganism and Christianity into an introspective analysis on the futility of clinging to an idealized past in a mutable world and allows the narrator to recognize the folly of his nostalgia at the end of the elegy, the author of “The Seafarer” offers an account with the voice of his narrator that is deeply interwoven with Christianity and its teachings for a didactic purpose, one that is meant to encourage individuals — like the seafarer — to reject a life of comfort and to seek out a spiritual community that transcends the earthly kingdom. Unlike the wanderer, the seafarer recognizes the mutability of the world and actively takes steps to determine his future in the afterlife while beseeching others to do the same. Ultimately, the voices of both unnamed narrators function in their respective elegies to express the authors’ opinions on the usefulness of earthly possessions and