The Wanderer (poem)
The Wanderer is an
Old English poem from the
10th century, preserved in the
Exeter Book. The date of composition is unknown but most certainly predates 1070 AD, as it was probably part of an earlier,
oral literary culture.It is a profoundly mournful poem, to the extent that it is an
elegy, in which the speaker, possibly an aged man, speaks of an attack upon his people that happened in his youth. In this attack, his close friends and kin were all killed, and memories of the slaughter have remained with him all his life. He questions the wisdom of the impetuous decision to engage a possibly superior fighting force: the wise man engages in warfare to preserve civil society, and must not rush into battle but seek out allies when the odds may be against him. This speaker finds little glory in bravery for bravery's sake.
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The Wanderer
Wanderer