Journal 9

In Anglo- Saxon literature, one of the most important values is loyalty to your lord, or king. While the poems “The Seafarer” and “The Wife’s Lament” show loyalty, they also show loneliness through the tragedy of exile. The sailor in “The Seafarer” is loyal to the sea, as well as to God. The sea “showed me suffering in a hundred ships, in a thousand ports, and in me (lines 4-5).” Though the sea causes him “sorrow and pain and fear (line 3),” he keeps going back. He rarely ever goes on shore anymore; he remains lonely out of respect and loyalty and most likely will until he dies at sea. In “The Wife’s Lament,” a woman is cast out by her husband’s family. “Care dawned cold for my lord (line 7-8).” The wife lives alone, yet remains faithful to her husband. She doesn’t have any love with her and loyalty overpowers her emotions.image