Techniques of Anglo-Saxon Literature

In Anglo-Saxon literature there are many techniques of language that are used to enrich and augment the reading of the pieces. Traditional Anglo-Saxon pieces were spread orally so the language focuses on aesthetically pleasing words. Many pieces share similar themes and images that augment the experience of reading. Two particular poems “The Seafarer” and “The Wanderer” have many characteristics in common with each other and the epic Beowulf.

                In “The Seafarer”, the narrator is a man describing his state of sacrifice and devotion to modesty. It is an elegy of a sailor who constantly submits himself to the harsh, cold sea in order to live the life of sacrifice needed to reach the afterlife he believes in. There are many kennings found throughout the piece such “sea-fowl” and “death-noise”. It also follows the same use of alliteration in lines such as “No kinsman could offer comfort there” and “So summer’s sentinel, the cuckoo, sings.” Besides literary techniques, this poem also has a few points in common with the theme of Beowulf. “The Seafarer” preaches a life of sacrifice to save one’s soul while in Beowulf a similar pattern of sacrifice occurs, not for his soul, but for his people. Just as the seafarer thrusts himself back out to sea to separate himself from enjoyment, celebration, and indulgence, Beowulf throws himself into battles to gain glory and protect those he cares for. Both men seek a life of sacrifice to support their beliefs.

                Another poem “The Wanderer” is written many centuries later by an English writer in the traditional form of an Anglo-Saxon poem. It tells the tale of a man who has lost his home and lord. Without his leader he is in a state of self-exile, fooling himself into thinking that people will not accept him. Uses of kennings are also apparent here as in “frost-cold” and “sea-birds”. Alliteration is a recurring pattern among lines through examples such as “his heart and follows the frost-cold foam”, “to whom my heart could hurry, hot”, and “forced to flee the darkness that fell.” In terms of theme, “The Wanderer” has less in common with Beowulf than “The Seafarer” but still shares a few key points. The narrator of “The Wanderer” is the last survivor of his community. In Anglo-Saxon times the community was everything to a man. Loyalty to one’s lord and being with others was valued above all and once lost left a heavy toll on one’s heart. The lord and friends of the wanderer were murdered before his very eyes, much in the same way that all men who rested in the mead-hall of King Hrothgar were murdered by Grendel. Just as the collapse of the community fractured the heart of the wanderer, the murder of Hrothgar’s men before his eyes paid a heavy toll on his mind.