ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hi, I’m Sydnie, a fourth-semester Enriched Pure and Applied student and a Dawson Rugby team athlete. I wrote “The Theme of Isolation and Fate in ‘The Wanderer’” in my second semester for Jessica Cadieux’s Old English Poetry class. Initially, I had no idea the course focused on Old English, and to be frank, I almost dropped it, finding the language daunting and quite intimidating. However, it turned out to be an eye-opening experience, deepening my appreciation for English literature, history, and culture. Looking ahead, I plan to pursue a career in Biomedical or Chemical Engineering.

–Sydnie Letourneau

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“The Wanderer” is an elegy, written by a monk and sung by multiple people across time, that encapsulates the feelings of isolation and loneliness. It recounts the story of an Anglo-Saxon man navigating the cold winter seas in search of a new lord following his previous lord’s demise. While some speculate that “The Wanderer” and “The Seafarer” were originally the same poem because of their similar recurring theme of exile, “The Wanderer” stands apart with its profoundly desolate tone. “The Wanderer” uses the imagery of the harsh nature surrounding the poetic speaker, his gnomic statements, and repetition of the concept of wyrd to demonstrate that he journeys from sorrow to wisdom when he realizes that fate, or wyrd, means that everything is temporary.

With the use of vivid imagery, the Wanderer links nature, more specifically the harsh weather, to his desolate state of mind. By describing the sea around him as “winter-sad, over the ice locked waves” and “binding waves,” he highlights the torment he is feeling due to his isolation (lines 24, 57). Furthermore, the terms “ice-locked waves” and “binding” emphasize how he is kept away from everyone else and forced to keep his emotions to himself. Feeling “hall-sick” (25) for his past life in meadhall, he experiences profound isolation on his quest for a new lord after the passing of his previous one and he associates that pain with the nature surrounding him. These harsh conditions at sea mirror the emptiness and negative emotions that he is feeling during his journey. Moreover, the Wanderer associates the weather of “frost falling and snow, mingled with hail” (48), with his heartache: “then the heart’s wounds are that much heavier” (49). This association illustrates how the weather intensifies his sorrow by emphasizing that as the weather becomes worse, so does his inner turmoil. Therefore, the Wanderer’s sadness and isolation are amplified by the stormy, ice-cold weather as he travels to find a new lord.

Furthermore, the evolution of the Wanderer’s wisdom, as conveyed through gnomic statements, marks his journey to consolation, which is achieved through suffering and solitude. Initially, the Wanderer, consumed by sorrow and “longing for his loved one” (50), grapples with the overwhelming sense of loss brought on by exile, one of the harshest forms of punishment within the Anglo-Saxon culture. As he miserably traverses the sea, tormented by fate and destiny, he thinks “The weary mind cannot withstand wyrd” (15), and he ruminates over his private thoughts about his destiny, unable to share them. During this period, noblemen were not allowed to express emotions, as it was seen as a sign of weakness. Therefore, the Wanderer feels trapped within the constraints of his own emotions, unable to set them free. However, as the poem unfolds, he starts to think about the idea of becoming a good person and contemplates the gnomic statement, “a man cannot become wise, before he has weathered / his shares of winters in this world” (63-64). In Anglo-Saxon poetry, gnomic statements gave advice on how to become a better person, essentially conveying words of wisdom. His statement highlights his transformative journey, emphasizing the fact that one must endure pain and sorrow before one can acquire wisdom. The Wanderer states that “A wise man must be patient” (65), indicating that the wisdom that he has gained is that one must be patient to be able to achieve peace, stability, and consolation in the afterlife. Everything else is temporary and will wither away as “all the wealth of this world stands waste” (74). Therefore, the Wanderer’s acceptance of fate demonstrates his evolving wisdom gained through suffering, in which he realizes that inner peace and consolation lie beyond the transient nature of life.

In addition, the Wanderer underscores the transient nature of life with the continuous repetition of the concept of wyrd. Initially, he states that “Wyrd is fully fixed” (5), showing that he acknowledges that it cannot be changed or altered. Wyrd is connected to all parts of life: “the working of wyrd changes the world under heaven. / Here wealth is fleeting, here friends are fleeting, / here man is fleeting, here woman is fleeting” (107-109). Everything will end up destroyed or killed over time because of fate, weather, or war. Wyrd was an important value in Anglo-Saxon culture, as it affected everyone and everything except for God, who is the only thing that is truly permanent in life. The Wanderer mentions “the old works of giants” (86), referring to Roman ruins that are left empty after the departure of the Roman Empire. He highlights that even the mighty Roman Empire could not stand a chance against the inevitability and destruction brought on by fate. Fate is a guiding force that shapes human destiny. This leads the Wanderer to conclude that there is no point in resisting fate and that it has predetermined his isolation. Thus, according to the Wanderer, fate is a force that no one can resist. Everything and everyone eventually falls or decays because nothing is permanent in life.

In conclusion, “The Wanderer” demonstrates the importance of the concept of wyrd in the Anglo-Saxon culture in different ways. It can be found in the imagery, the change in the Wanderer’s tone, and the repetition of the impact of wyrd. The Wanderer showcases his sense of isolation and suffering by interlinking it with the vivid imagery of the harsh nature around him. It is through his pain and exile that he concludes that everything in life is temporary and that there is no point in resisting the guiding force that is fate. Further studies can investigate how the poem “The Wanderer” was possibly written to appeal to the lower classes at the time, to provide them with consolation about the afterlife and the eventual end of their suffering as they reach the gates of heaven.

  

 Work Cited

Liuzza, R.M., editor “The Wanderer.” Old English Poetry: An Anthology, Broadview Press, 2014, pp.28-30.