Journal 9

      In Anglo-Saxon culture the bond between lord and servant was very important. This bond is shown in both “The Seafarer” and “The Wife’s Lament”. In “The Wife’s Lament” the bond is apparent not only is the woman’s love her husband but her lord, but she remains loyal to her husband/lord during the entire poem. She speaks of how she still loves and is still loyal to her lord/husband even though she has been separated from him. The author tells us of how horrific the separation from her lord is. She wishes to be with him so badly but yet she is alone exiled from her home and her lord. In “The Seafarer” the author is loyal to his god and the sea. The author speaks of how he knows the joys of landlubbers and the harshness of the seas but yet he remains loyal to the sea. At one point of the poem the author tells of how he comes ashore but cannot wait to get back to sea and his journey. The author also speaks of his god and tells of how he is loyal to his god by giving up his possessions and pleasures in life and living on the sea.