The Wanderer: A struggle with Faith Essay -- English Literature

The Wanderer: A struggle with Faith In the Anglo-Saxon poem, The Wanderer, the narrator describes a man who is having a religious struggle between his old pagan traditions and the new Christian Philosophy. Anglo-Saxons believed in fate, fame, and treasure; and that one could not easily change his life. The Christian Religion believed of an afterlife in Heaven or Hell, and where one would go depended on their actions during their human life. Since Christians did believe in an afterlife, they did not believe in pagan philosophy; instead they believed God was in control of everything, and things in their life happened for a reason. Following this concept, defeat and misfortune were easier to accept, because if one suffered a horrible life on Earth, he would be rewarded for his misery in the afterlife. The speaker of the poem describes a great loss, remembering the time when he was happy with his kinsmen, â€Å"Thus spoke such a ‘grasshopper’, old griefs in his mind, cold slaughters, the death of dear kinsmen†¦.None are there now among the living to who I dare declare me thoroughly, tell my hearts thought† (6-12). The strongest relationship during the Anglo-Saxon time was through comitatus, and with the death of his lord and kinsmen, this was taken away from him. Now without his support system of his comitatus the speaker is lost, and becomes a wanderer. The horrible experience he has had of losing his lord has shaken his traditional Anglo-Saxon beliefs, and he looks toward Christianity for a different answer. During the time period in which The Wanderer was written, the Anglo-Saxons were torn between the familiar pagan beliefs they have always followed; and the new hope that the Christian philosophy had brough... ... should care too fast be out of a man’s breast before he first know the cure: a warrior fights on bravely. Well is it for him who seeks forgiveness, the Heavenly Father’s solace, in whom all our fastness stands† (104-108). This line shows how the narrator still remembers God’s eternal love for those who suffer, as well as knowing that there is a life in heaven after his earthly life. The Wanderer reflects the traditional Anglo-Saxon beliefs, as well as captures the speaker’s efforts to find the answers to his deepest questions. His faith in the Anglo-Saxon culture has been shaken, because it has not treated him well. Not only did he lose his comitatus, but it also forced him into the outcast existence that he must live. Even as he turns to Christianity for an answer and direction, he cannot help looking back fondly on the traditions that were part of him.