The Pagan Elegy

The Exile

• Written in 1st person

• Character is alone

• Forced to leave home for a long period of time

Style• Melancholic mood• Feelings of isolation• Reflects on life and its meaning• Uses vivid imagery• Alliteration

The Exeter Book• Compiled in the 10th century

• Leofric, Bishop of Exeter donated it to a monastary

• Many pages have damage or are missing.

Riddles

The Exeter book contains over 90 riddles, some of which are incomplete or unsolved. Try solving this one:

The sea fed me; the water-helm was over me,and waves covered me, close to the ground.I was footless. Often toward the waterI opened my mouth. Now people willeat my meat. They want not my skin.When they rip my hide with the point of a knife. . . . . . . . .Then they eat me uncooked. . . .

The Seafarer is a poem from the Exeter book.

The subject is a man recounting his experiences at sea.

As we read look to answer these questions:

• How does the tone of the poem change from the beginning to the end?

• Do you think the Seafarer regrets the time spent at sea?

• What is the final hope or goal of the Seafarer?

The Seafarer