Comparing The Wanderer And The Seafarer

The poems “The Wanderer” and “The Seafarer”, found in the Exeter Book with unknown authors, represent a lot about what Anglo-Saxon life is about. The Anglo-Saxons are a group of people from the Baltic shores of Germany who drove out the Britons in order to settle the greater part of Britain. Though the Anglo-Saxons are often depicted as being barbaric, the Sutton Hoo treasure, a treasure composed of ornate weapons and jewelry, not only demonstrated that they are great craftsmen, but also historians, scholars, and poets as well. The Anglo-Saxons belong to what is known as a warrior class society, where warriors are valued and treated with the highest forms of respect. Scops, also known as bards, were also very important to society. The storytellers

would tell heroic tales, rich in detail, that echoed the reverberation of fame, which may be why they were so important. The poems convey the Anglo-Saxon culture through references to religion, allusions to warrior society, and blatant reliance on a leader.
Christianity became an important part of the Anglo-Saxon culture when Saint Augustine II converted King Ethelbert of Kent in 597. This pivotal moment led to other Anglo-Saxon leaders converting and Christianity became a unifying force among the Anglo-Saxon people. Similarly, Christianity is also a large part of both “The Wander” and “The Seafarer”. In “The Wanderer”, the reader is introduced to a grieving soldier mourning the loss of his comrades and lord. For a brief moment at the beginning of the poem, the Wanderer is able to recognize and feel “God’s pity, compassionate love, / Though woefully toiling on wintry seas… [h]omeless and helpless” (2-3, 5). The Wanderer hopes to continue to have the Lord with him, despite his condemnation on the wintry seas. At the end of the poem, after relentlessly complaining about his exile, the Wanderer suggests that God is the cure for sorrow and a refuge from desolation. “Good man is he who guardeth his faith… And happy the man who seeketh for mercy / From his heavenly Father, our fortress and strength” (104, 107-108). Just like the Wanderer looks to God for strength and shelter, there is also a need for a ring-bearer to guide his soldiers.