The Wanderer

Wanderer (Q&A)

Based on the poem, how would you describe/characterize the narrator?

The wanderer is an old or aged man who is mourning the loss of his lord, friends and family in war and in exile.

"But he who this wall'd place wisely devis'd, and this dark life profoundly contemplates, wise in spirit, afar oft remembers (90)

his many battles, and these words utters:

Where is horse, where is man? where is the treasure-giver ?

where are the festive sittings ? where are the joys of the hall?"

He must have been a favored valiant warrior of his lord who had seen some glory in the battlefield but his experiences after the years of battle which left him aged and generally friendless, perhaps due to a loss of his Comitatus and comrades in battle, has made him realize certain things about the nature of battle, the transience of life, and the comfort of faith.

"Well it is for him who seeketh mercy, comfort, at the Father in heaven, where all our fastness standeth."

2. What is the significance of the Comitatus to the narrator?

The Comitatus seems to be his source of family and identity based on his strong fond memories of his comrades and the glorious victories they had had, the affection they shared, and the gifts that had been bestowed to them by their lord. Their loss has left him desolate.

3. What is the general sentiment the narrator wishes to express in the poem?

While the poem is mostly a mournful poem in which the narrator expresses his sorrow over his loss and isolation, it is also seeks to share lessons that the narrator had learned through his experiences. He has come to understand the transience of life, that people live and die so easily, political or military power comes and goes, that those who wage battles would be wiser to contemplate the destructive results of their actions.

Irksome is all the realm of earth, the fates' decrees change the world under heaven: