Throughout Anglo-Saxon literature there are different motifs. The three most common motifs are journey, fate, and exile. “The Seafarer” presents a journey that is not all that obvious. The journey is from a young man to an old man. The narrator tell of when he was a young man and lived on land but then something unknown happens and he chooses to leave land and live on the sea. In “The Wife’s Lament” there is a journey of exile. The wife is in love with her lord and marries him but then he gets into trouble and she is left exiled.
Exile is the most apparent thing in both “The Seafarer” and “The Wife’s Lament”. In “The Seafarer” the exile is one that is self-inflicted. “… I choose to put myself back on the paths of the sea.” The narrator is showing that he forces himself to stay on the sea. “The Wife’s Lament” presents exile from an outside force. The wife is exiled by her in-laws after her husband gets himself into trouble. The poem is a testament to her emotional distress during her exile.
Fate would have to be the most common motif in not only “The Seafarer” and “The Wife’s Lament” but in all Anglo-Saxon poetry. “The Seafarer” has fate present throughout the poem. The narrator believes it is fate that has forced him to the sea and that he will die on the sea. “No man has ever faced the dawn certain which of Fate’s three threats would fall…” In “The Wife’s Lament” the narrator accepts that it is her fate to be exiled and that fate has taken her from her love.
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