The Anglo-Saxon poems, The Wanderer, The Seafarer, and The Wife’s Lamen

The Anglo-Saxon poems, The Wanderer, The Seafarer, and The Wifes Lament The Old position, or Anglo-Saxon, era of England lasted from about 450-1066 A.D. The tribes from Germany that conquered Britain in the fifth century carried with them both the Old English language and a detailed poetic tradition. The tradition included alliteration, emphasise and unstressed syllables, but more importantly, the poetry was usually mournful, reflecting on suffering and loss.1These sorrowful poems from the Anglo Saxon time period are mimetic to the Anglo-Saxons themselves they reflect the a great deal burdened and miserable lives and times of the people who created them. The Anglo-Saxon poems, The Wanderer, The Seafarer, and The Wifes Lament, are three examples how literature is mimetic, for they capture the socialisations heroic beliefs of Fame and Fate, the cultures societal structure, and religious struggle of the Old English time period making the transition from paganism to Christianity.In order to understand how these poems reverberate the Anglo-Saxons lives, one must know a little history about the culture. In the fifth century, the inhabitants of the island of Britain hired German mercenaries to defend them against their warring neighbors, the Picts and the Scots. 2 afterward having defeated the enemies, the pagan Angles, or Saxons, revolted against their former allies, the Britons, killing everyone, no matter what their status or occupation, destroyed towns and buildings, and drove out Christianity, the Britons religion. The conquerors were Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Franks, and Frisians, but they all had a similar culture so they became known as Anglo-Saxons. 3Anglo-Saxons set up Germanic kingdoms, each one ruled by a lord. In the... ...Norton & Company, 1975.B. Journal ArticlesBruce, Alex. Exploring the Soul The Wanderers Search for Meaning. Matheliende.Volume III, Number I (Fall, 1995). http//parallel.park.uga.edu/abruce/mathiii1.htmlC. Web SitesAnglo-Saxon Engl and. Internet WWW page, at uniform resource locatorhttp//encarta.msn.com/ happen/concise.asp?ti=761572205&sid=26s26Anglo-Saxon LifeKinship and Lordship. Internet WWW page, at URLhttp//www.britainexpress.com/History/anglo-saxon_life-kinship_and_lordshipThe Anglo-Saxon Period. Internet WWW pate, at URLhttp//www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/3878/Saxon.htmlEnglish Literature. Internet WWW page, at URLhttp//encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?z=1&pg=2&ti=761558048St. Vede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Internet WWW page at URLhttp//www.ocf.org/OrthodoxPage/reading/St.Pachomius/bede1_15.html