Journal 6

            A common theme in poems of the Anglo-Saxon period and heroic narratives like Beowulf is that people who live lives of bravery, generosity, and loyalty will be remembered as great heroes/warriors.  Also, characters in Anglo-Saxon poems and heroic narratives honor truth, love their personal freedom, and revere their king or lord.  Another common theme is that the main character goes on a quest.  In Beowulf, after hearing about Grendel’s terror and horror, Beowulf goes on a quest to kill Grendel.  In “The Seafarer,” the narrator is on a quest; he gives up all of his possessions and pleasures to obtain true happiness.  To the narrator, true happiness is being out on the sea.  The traveler in “The Wanderer” also gives up all of his earthly possessions, but he does it out of grief.  The traveler lost his lord, so he exiles himself from his homeland.  The characters in poems of the Anglo-Saxon period and heroic narratives choose to go on their quests; they do not have to accept the quest that is given to them.  Since Anglo-Saxons believed that loyalty and bravery were important values, they often included them in their literary works.

            A technique that poems of the Anglo-Saxon period have in common with heroic narratives is that the rhythm is free; there is not a specific pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.  Another technique that Anglo-Saxon poems and heroic narratives have in common is that they have alliteration and kennings.  In “The Seafarer,” an example of alliteration is “When wonderful things were worked among them…”  In “The Wanderer,” a kenning for waves is sea-billows.  Parallelism is another technique that heroic narratives and Anglo-Saxon poems have in common.  An example of parallelism in “The Seafarer” is when the speaker talks about the longing he has for being at sea.  In the beginning, the speaker says, “hunger tore at my sea-weary soul;” later he says, “how often, how wearily,/ I put myself back on the paths of the sea.”  When the speaker was not on the sea, he felt emptiness in his soul; the sea was the only thing that could fill his emptiness.  In “The Wanderer,” the speaker uses parallelism to talk about his sense of loneliness.  “No one offered comfort, allowed/ Me feasting or joy.”  Later, he said, “That warmth is dead.”  The speaker exiled himself to the sea because he lost his lord.  He was looking for a place to live and a lord to replace the lord that he lost.  However, since no one knew him, no one offered him food, shelter, or comfort.  Since he does not feel welcome, the speaker says, “that warmth is dead.”  Anglo-Saxons used similar techniques in their poetry and heroic narratives; this made their literary works unique and different from other literary works.