Swa cwæð snottor on mode: Four Issues in The Wanderer

Of the many issues surrounding the Old English Wanderer , four require further discussion: the basic question of how many speakers there are in the poem, who or what is set up in opposition to the wis wer in the middle of the poem, how the virtue of reticence is reconciled with the existence of the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNeophilologus Vol. 92; no. 3; pp. 559 - 565
Main Author Wolfe, Melissa J.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.07.2008
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Comparative Linguistics
Comparative Literature
Historical Linguistics
Linguistics
Old English
Person
Philology
Poetry
Social Sciences
Syntax
Story telling
Wisdom
Drama
Grace
Heroic
Faith
Fate
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Summary:Of the many issues surrounding the Old English Wanderer , four require further discussion: the basic question of how many speakers there are in the poem, who or what is set up in opposition to the wis wer in the middle of the poem, how the virtue of reticence is reconciled with the existence of the poem, and the question of how the Wanderer experiences grace in the midst of his sufferings. The answers to the first three questions are related: there is only one speaker, the hastiness stands in opposition to the wise man’s wisdom, and clever use of third-person narrative maintains wise reticence while allowing expression of powerful emotions. Finally, the issues surrounding ar can be understood by recognising the multiple types of grace encompassed by the word.
ISSN:0028-2677
1572-8668
DOI:10.1007/s11061-007-9099-z