The Wife's Lament Flashcards
(13 cards)
How does the Wife describe her narrative, and what is significant about it?
She describes her story as ‘giedd […] bi me ful geomorre’ [‘a very mournful riddle about myself’] — word ‘giedd’, which can also mean ‘song’ or ‘lay’ (Bosworth), calls to mind a traditional idea of feminine lamentation, as seen in the sorrowful singing in ‘Beowulf’ of a woman lamenting the hero’s demise
What cycle is the Wife trapped in?
The Wife is trapped in a cycle of ‘uhtceare’ [‘anxiety at dawn’] (6) recalled in line 35: ‘þonne iċ on ūhtan āna gonge’ [‘while I walk alone at dawn’]
What does she dwell beneath and what does it symbolise according to Della Hooke?
She dwells beneath an ‘actreo’ [‘oak tree’] (28), which is symbolic of steadfastness and strength
What words does she use to describe her husband, and why are these significant according to Marilynn Desmond?
Words she uses to describe her husband: ‘hlaford’ [‘lord’], ‘leodfruma’ [chieftain], ‘frea’ [lord of a people]
Marilynn Desmond notes that of the words she uses to denote her husband, ‘None of these terms specifically denotes a husband, and most are only seldom used to refer to a man’s position in his marriage. Rather, these terms are used most frequently to refer to a man’s position within the martial or political spheres of heroic society. The wife uses these terms to represent her position as retainer to her husband/lord.’
How does the Wife describe her own journey?
‘mine sylfre sið’ [‘my own journey’]
The Wanderer is ‘wintercearig’. By contrast, what period of time does the Wife wear out underground?
‘sumorlangne dæg’ [‘summer-long day’] (37)
Where are the Wife’s friends?
‘Frȳnd sind on eorþan | lēofe lifġende, leġer weardiað’ [‘Beloved ones are here on the earth, | loved ones living, occupying a bed’] (33b-34)
Where does she imagine her husband?
She imagines her husband in a ‘dreorsele’ [‘dismal hall’] parallel to her own
What is the final word of the poem, and why is it important?
infinitive of the final verb ‘abidan’ [‘to wait’] suspends her in a state of eternal fixation, waiting to determine whether she can ever move on from her past vows and return from the death-like exile she is trapped in, either through her husband’s return or widowhood
What kind of rhetoric does Shari Horner believe women in OE poetry are framed by?
Shari Horner states that ‘[a] rhetoric of enclosure “frames” women in the poem (and in Old English literature more generally) so that the condition of being framed or enclosed produces femininity’
According to Christine Fell, what is the only rational course of action for wanderers/mourners?
‘the only rational course of action is to transfer their affections to the undying’ Christine Fell
What, according to Anne Klinck, does separation from the person/persons one belongs to do to one’s identity?
‘separation from the person or persons to whom one belongs deprives not only of companionship but of one’s entire function in the world’ Anne Klinck
What kind of discourse does Anne Klinck define OE elegy as?
Anne Klinck attempts to define old English elegy as ‘a discourse arising from a powerful sense of absence, of separation from what is desired, […] and shaping itself […] into a poem that moves from disquiet to some kind of acceptance’
