Old English Literature Essay

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Old English Literature is a particular type of writing that one must enable themselves to focus in great detail not only on the material being presented, but to also have a great insight of how the character truly feels in order to understand that period of time and the imagination of the author. Many of the pieces we have mentally interpreted throughout the beginning of this course have yes; shown a large amount of similarities. The characters, ideas, and symbols in each text have been proven to be an accurate representation of how alike places and people were during this time along with other key aspects. Two pieces that distinctively stood out to me from the rest were “The Dream of the Rood” and “The Wanderer.” “The Dream of the Rood”, being one of the only surviving pieces from Anglo Saxon literature portrays the story of a man who recalls a vision he received in a dream. The dream entailed the “rood” of which Christ was crucified. The word rood simply means “cross.” The man seems very loyal and faithful while showing a large amount of eagerness to be “lifted up by the cross” after receiving the dream. During this dream, the man sees a large bejeweled tree with angels at the base of it, the tree serves as an analogy of Christ on the cross. However, the man feels unworthy and sinful while in this dream and further goes on to understand that the tree can heal those who worship and demands the man tell its story. This dream speaks to the character and he sets out to spread the word of Christ throughout the writing. “The Wanderer” portrays a story of a young man who asks the lord for compassion and understanding during his exile at sea. His memory drifts back to traumatizing events that have occurred in his past causing him great deals of sadness now. Such as watching his kinsmen be slaughtered and killed. Now he is lonely and isolated feeling as if he can’t share his feelings with anyone. He argues throughout the writing that no matter how hard someone tries to keep in their emotions, they still cannot avoid their fate. A man who shows a strong determination to succeed can hide his heart that is filled with sorrow, but he can never escape it. Other than the obvious fact that both were wrote during the same time period, both poems are read in first person by the author. Which means the writing is being told from the main characters point of view and not an outsider. Confusion is potentially presented a lot to the reader in both writings, if the material is not understood correctly or the main theme of the piece is not given clearly. Last, often a message of sadness is portrayed in both by each author. They
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