Anglo Saxon Exile
Anglo-Saxon literature has one common theme, which is exile. Exile is enforced devolvement from one’s native habitat. Often, exile is a means of cruel and unusual “punishment.” Sometimes it is hard to depict who is being exiled and why he is being exiled in Anglo-Saxon literature because it uses misleading phrases, impressionistic poetry, and it is written in old English, which, on its own is hard to understand. ... One would think that Eadwacer would be saddened by this exile, but she has more antipathy towards Wulf and seems almost relieved to be at such a distance. These two people never have the chance to see each other again, and there is no resolution to their exile. ... “Deor” is an impressionistic poem and is possibly the hardest Anglo-Saxon poem to understand. This particular poem has six stanzas, and each stanza alternates between having no exile and being exiled. ... There is no exile in the second stanza of “Deor,” but the following stanza does have exile. ... ) After the son returns from his exile, he receives all of the treasures from his deceased father. The last two stanzas are saturated with exile. ... This poem is a cliffhanger, which means that there is no resolution to Deor’s exile until a follow-up to this poem comes out.