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Christianity in the wanderer
Poem analysis on the wanderer
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Heathen and Christian Elements in the Wanderer
The modern word 'weird' bears only a superficial resemblance to its etymological descendent, wyrd. What now stands for 'strange' and 'queer' only has an archaic connection to its classical meaning of 'Fate'. During the process of evolution, however, the word went through many phases, especially during the formation of the English language by the Anglo-Saxons.
Wyrd appears fairly often in Old English poetry and prose, indicating a certain importance in Germanic society. By following the changes the word undergoes, it is also possible to follow some of the changes that the culture undergoes as well. A fine example of Old English poetry that employs wyrd on four separate occasions - with four separate meanings - is The Wanderer.
What began as a word firmly rooted in what can only be termed 'heathen' culture eventually began to take on much more religious overtones. The word wyrd, though originally pagan in meaning, had found an entirely Christian colouring by the time of its use in The Wanderer.
Before beginning an analysis of a single word that appears four times in this poem, it is important to establish a few assumptions about the nature of the piece itself. Many an article and essay have been written about The Wanderer, trying to define its theme, genre, even its narrator. Yet the wonderfully ambiguous nature of the poem defies any single explanation, so it remains up to the critical reader to develop his own opinion.
For the purpose of this paper, it is believed that The Wanderer is, in essence, a heathen/pagan poem, rooted firmly in the Germanic culture from whence it hails. H...
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...y Exile of the Wanderer." Neophilologus 73 (1989): 119-129.
Dunning, T.P., and A.J.Bliss, eds. The Wanderer. London: Methuen & Co, 1969
Lochrie, Karma. "Wyrd and the Limits of Human Understanding: a Thematic Sequence in the Exeter Book." JEPG 85 (1986): 323-331
Timmer, B.J. "Wyrd in Anglo-Saxon Prose and Poetry." Neophilologus 26 (1941): 213-128.
Timmer, B.J. "Heathen and Christian Elements in Old English Poetry." Neophilologus 29 (1944): 180-185.
1Due to the lack of punctuation in The Wanderer, it is nigh impossible to know who is narrating, or to whom he/she is referring to at any given time.
2The actual meaning of "sundor æt rune" remains ambiguous. Though "apart in meditation" seems the most likely, interpretations such as "reading runes" have been put forward.
Communism impacted the countries of Russia and China in both strikingly similar and different ways, for the better, or for the worse. During the time period of 1900 to 1945, communism in China and Russia were developed both differently and similarly by the audience to whom they appealed, the programs they sponsored, how they incorporated nationalism into those programs, how effectively they were resisted, and in how the Communist rules were structured. They both appealed to the peasantry, sponsored programs that would call for equal opportunity given to the people, and were resisted ineffectively but the Chinese altered their programs, due to the difference in politics, geographic location, and social problems. The audience in which they appealed to were similar, for they both appealed to the peasantry due to harsh times. They both rose to power due to the fact that the country wanted to end war but their opposing political party did not meet these needs. Nationalism was an important feature of both as China needed nationalism to fight the Japanese while Russia needed nationalism to pull out of the war. The programs they sponsored essentially were similar in many aspects although they did not match up perfectly because of the geological, social, and political differences of China. Communism affected both countries in a variety of different ways.
In the poems “The Wanderer”, “The Wife’s Lament”, and “Cuchilainn's Boyhood Deeds” there are journeys that each of the characters go through in the poems. In The Wanderer and “The Wife's Lament” the characters are dealing with the lose of a what they called life. In “Cuchilainn's Boyhood Deeds” the young man in the poem is seeking glory and honor. The poem dapple in both a physical journey and a mental or emotional dilemma. In “The Wanderer” the warrior is sent off in exile and he dreams of finding a new lord and a new hall to become apart of. In “The Wifes Lament”, the wife is also living in exile because he husband family has separated them; she images a life where she isnt so lonely anymore. “Cuchulainn's Boyhood Deeds” is about a boy who imagines himself doing heroic deed to gain favor, honor, and to become a legend. Each of the characters has a physical journey that are in the mist of, but while in the middle of those trial they are also faced with emotional pain and longing for a better life.
World war 1 was a brutal war that could have been prevented if Germany didn’t strike back at the assassination of the Arch Duke Franz. Once Germany invaded Poland the war broke out to a horrifying fight that impacted every country. The united states happened to have been the least effected by the war and actually grew richer by selling goods and needs to other countries. America was viewed as a savior of Europe. Speed up American industrial production and performance was better than ever. Leading to the economic boom and the roaring twenties.
The two-line struggle which broke between Mao Zedong’s promotion of socialism and his opponents’ lapsed into revisionism. The designation of Liu Shaoqi with the dominant authority was an assertion that consensus had diminished over a variety of issues, including the economy and ‘spontaneous developments towards capitalism’ in the countryside. The party was accused of having become ‘divorced from the masses’ and education thrived of ‘bourgeois individualism’. The struggle between the Soviet Union and China was escalating, in which a split seemed to be inevitable. Mao as a result attempted to spur China’s independent economic development through the Great Leap Forward. Hence the social violence of the Revolution was caused by the incoherence of pre-Cultural Revolution political system as explained by Richard Kraus, “Maoism itself was embodied in the paradox that Mao wanted people to act voluntarily exactly as he wanted them to, without quite trusting they would do so.” Shifting from this political argument, Lynn T. White III interpreted the Cultural Revolution as an unintended result of administrative policies, claiming the campaigning, controlling and labelling of such swayed students’ attitudes towards each other and their leaders, hence seen as merely the long term cost of these
World War II was based on the idealistic view of Americans, especially concerning the people’s perspectives on how America was being perceived, and how they wanted to be seen. The American public, witnessing foreign tragedy worked to push against suppression in order to rise in equality. Coming out of the Great Depression America was extremely cautious about intervention in foreign affairs spurring an isolationist view. When determining their entrance into World War II America thought about the immense amount of casualties brought from World War I and the lack of positive consequences. Much of the changes enveloping society were a continuation of the new deal policies.
Programs such as collectivization and land reformation were essentially a microcosm of Mao's impact on China. Under the policy of collectivization, the government promoted cooperative farming and redistributed the land on the principle that the product of labor could be better distributed if the la...
There was a huge influence of both paganism and christianity that can be noticed in Old English Poetry. To better understand these two values, let us explain what paganism and christianity mean. Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. As presented in New Thestament, Christians believe Jesus to be the Son of God and the Messiah prophesied in The Old Testament. Christianity began in the 1st century AD as a Jewish sect, and shares many religious texts with Judaism, specifically the Hebrew Bible, known to Christians as the Old Testament. The name Christian means belonging to Christ or partisan of Christ. As far as Paganism is concerned, the word comes from latin paganus and means a country dweller, rustic. It is a term which has come to connote a broad set of spiritual or cultic practises or beliefs of any folk religion a nd of historical and contemprorary polytheism religious in particular. (...) Characteristic of pagan traditions in the anscence of proselytisation and presence of a living mythology which explains religious practice. The term Pagan is a Christian adaptation of the goy of Judaism.
The ambiguity which dominates the poem seems to be intentional. The only certainty in the poem is that it deals with a solitary traveler who has come to a fork in the road and must choose which way to go.
...dle Ages," pp. 1-26; The Dream of the Rood, The Wanderer, (700/900), Five Old English Riddles (pp. 150-51), translated from Old English
The theories of Communism which were developed through a collaboration of Marx and Engels began to penetrate China through the Soviet influence. The sweeping changes that were introduced by Mao Zedong and his party would influence China in every aspect, and attempt to eradicate the old ways, which were consider to be corrupted and no longer represented what was right for the country as a whole.
The late 19th century and the beginning of the early 20th century marks a critical turning point in Chinese history. The high pressures of western imperialism and regenerated peasant revolutions caused a sudden shift in the Chinese social order. The fear of western imperialism caused a demand for modernization, self-strengthening, and defense. Sons of the traditional landlord-bureaucratic lost confidence in Confucian values and traditional institutions; this elite class was too weak to withhold foreign invasion. The sons of the gentry, soon became the most important contributors to the revolution that would rise up against the Confucius bureaucrats intellectuals. The new revolutionaries visioned not only a fortified, modern China with a powerful defense system, but also a unified country. One without “class struggle” or the unfair socio-economic differences between the impoverished masses and higher social classes. To achieve this new political vision, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was formed in 1921 but not with ease.
... Religious Concept, with Special Reference to Medieval English Literature. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State College P, 1952.
First of alll, the poem is divided into nine stanzas, where each one has four lines. In addition to that, one can spot a few enjambements for instance (l.9-10). This stylistic device has the function to support the flow of the poem. Furthermore, it is crucial to take a look at the choice of words, when analysing the language.
"Open Book Newsletter No. 1: The Bible and Western Literature by Peter J. Leithart January, 1991." Biblical Horizons » No. 1: The Bible and Western Literature. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2014.
It can be said that there is nothing more permanent than change throughout human history. This notion has prevailed throughout thousands of years as old beliefs and ways of life are replaced by the next logical step in humanity’s attempt to achieve some sensation of sureness or stability in life. Change is at the forefront of much of Old English literature, as the pagan, naturalistic religion of the Anglo-Saxons slowly shifted to Christian ideology. This clash of spiritualistic superiority is clearly illustrated in the episode of Grendel’s Mother from Beowulf, the Wanderer, and Caedmon’s Hymn, all of which display a shift of Anglo-Saxon society to Christianity through a demonization of nature, the passing of old tradition, and the power of God’s will over man.