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The Wanderer. Always the one alone longs for mercy, Maker’s mildness, though, troubled in mind, across the ocean-ways he has long been forced to stir with his hands the frost-cold sea, and walk in exile’s paths. Wyrd is fully fixed!1 Thus spoke the Wanderer, mindful of troubles, of cruel slaughters and the fall of dear kinsmen:2 “Often ...
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Text. Often the lone-dweller waits [ 1 ] for favor, mercy of the Measurer, [ 2 ] though he unhappy across the seaways long time must stir with his hands the rime-cold sea, tread exile-tracks. Fate is established!5.
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- Summary
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- Structure and Form
- Literary Devices
- Detailed Analysis
- Similar Poetry
‘The Wanderer’ is a long Old English poem in which the speaker details the life and struggles of a wanderer. In the first part of this piece, the speaker describes a wanderer, someone who lost everything that meant something to him. He’s lost his lord, his home, his kinsmen, and more. Now, he’s seeking out a new life but can’t escape the memories o...
The anonymous writer of ‘The Wanderer’ engages with themes of loneliness, suffering, and religion in the text. These themes are quite common within the best-known Anglo-Saxon verse. The speaker in this piece is well acquainted with sorrow and describes a “wanderer” experiences with it. This person is separate from their “lord,” the person around wh...
‘The Wanderer’ is an Old English poem that’s written in 153 lines. This translated version is in modern English and only reaches 116 lines. As is the case with the vast majority of Anglo-Saxon poetry, these lines are alliterative, meaning that rhythm I based on the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words. There is no rhyme scheme o...
The anonymous poet of ‘The Wanderer’ makes use of several interesting literary devices that are still discernible despite the vast differences between Old English and modern English. These include but are not limited to alliteration, enjambment, and caesura. Caesural pauses were an important part of Anglo-Saxon poetry. Often, the lines were stopped...
Lines 1-9
In the first four lines of ‘The Wanderer,’ the speaker introduces the reader to a solitary man, sometimes called a “lone-dweller” or, in this case, a “solitary one.” This man hopes for mercy from God and good favour despite his fate. That is, to wander the “ocean” or the “rime-cold sea.” In some versions of the poem, the following lines refer to someone known as the “earth-stepper,” in this version, the translator chose the word “wanderer.” This is either the same person as in the first stanz...
Lines 10-23
The speaker tells the reader that nowadays since he’s completely alone, there is no one to whom he can “tell clearly [his] inmost thoughts.” His relatives are dead, and one of the consequences of this is that he’s entirely alone. He doesn’t want to reveal his thoughts to just anyone; they’re personal to him. This is a theme common to Old English poetry, as is solitude. The following lines state that expressing sorrow helps no one. The “troubled mind” doesn’t “offer help.” So, he adds, he had...
Lines 24-33
In the next lines, the speaker describes how he sought out “a giver of treasure,” or a new lord, everywhere he went. He thought there might be someone who “might wish” to comfort him and remedy his friendlessness. He knows that if he can’t find a new situation for himself he’s going to end up on a “path of exile” where there’s no “twisted gold” but “frozen feelings” and no glory.
Readers who enjoyed ‘The Wanderer’ should also consider reading some other well-known Anglo-Saxon poems. For example, ‘The Seafarer,‘ ‘The Wife’s Lament,’ and‘Beowulf.’ The latter is the best-known of the Anglo-Saxon Old English poem. It tells the story of the hero Beowulf who slays the monster Grendel and its mother. ‘The Wife’s Lament’ is told fr...
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- October 9, 1995
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The Wanderer is preserved only in the Exeter Book, a manuscript dating to about 975 (although the poem may be much earlier), which contains the largest surviving collection Of Anglo-Saxon poetry.
Sep 15, 2011 · The Wanderer obtained a direction to the house of Mrs Maple, from a servant; and demanded another to Titchfield Street. To the latter she rapidly bent her steps; but, there arrived, her haste ended in disappointment and perplexity.
Aug 1, 2019 · The Wanderer: An Old English Wisdom Poem. by. John Richardson. Publication date. 1984. Collection. ualberta_theses; university_of_alberta_libraries; toronto. Contributor. University of Alberta Libraries.
Mar 25, 2020 · The Wanderer. Publication date. 1966. Topics. Wanderer (Anglo-Saxon poem), English language -- Old English, ca. 450-1100 -- Texts, Epic poetry, English (Old), English language -- Old English. Publisher. New York : Barnes & Noble, Inc. Collection.
