Some Thoughts about 'The Seafarer'

[@yes_head]

Nice, Simon. I like your idea that loneliness and being solitary were probably very different concepts for an early medieval person compared to someone today. What I'm also picking up from the poem is that people from that time period had a more direct connection to their natural environment -- the geography and the animals -- than we do today.

[@skepticalbadger]

Who's 'we'? There are plenty of people in the world who are still connected to animals and geography.

[@mechanarwhal7830]

I was going to make a comment on the illuminating nature of your discussion of the poem, but can we all pause for a moment to appreciate the wonderfully peaceful nature of the visuals in your videos? It seems like a current trend is to cut every five seconds, but here we get to watch ice melting in real time. Academia and nature - such a calming combination!

[@michaelaaylott1686]

Your comments on aloneness really struck me - how until recent times it would have seemed an unnatural uncomfortable state. Reading Samuel Pepys diaries, written over 600 years later, I couldn’t believe how full of people each day was for him, from morning to midnight, going to see them, having them visit, eating with various groups several times a day, going to the theatre, to church - even when ‘alone’ at home, he was surrounded by his servants, who slept in the same bedroom as him and his wife. An average day for him would be as full as an exhausting but exciting busy week for the average person today. I realise now that we are the anomalies.

[@acchaladka]

And western / northern societies as well: in Central Asia where I spent a few years, wanting to be alone is seen as a sign of mental illness.

[@mobydickswife9512]

Very, very well said.

[@FrozenMermaid666]

I am the only wf / gf / bride and the only being meant to be served - the words wf and servnt and mic and hael and lot cannot be in someone’s name or in comments, and all unsuitable names must be changed, and all unsuitable terms must be edited out!

[@FrozenMermaid666]

Also, this poem isn’t from that time - it is more recent and secretly written by agents, as are many other stories and poems and mythological stories etc!

[@FrozenMermaid666]

...most hum’ns are self-normalized anomalies tho!

[@Istehomo]

Thank you Simon - this was wonderful. As far as I'm concerned, you can discuss Old English poetry as much as you want.

[@clayglaus7905]

Simon, you should also read "The Wanderer" as well as it deals with the same themes as "The Seafarer" does, talking about loneliness, exile, and how faith plays in all of this. It's a beautiful poem and is one of my favorite Anglo-Saxon poems. It's about the same length and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

[@ingvarharaldsson677]

The Wanderer is my favourite Anglo-Saxons poem. I like two translations of it: by Burton Raffel and by Charles W. Kennedy

[@MrVvulf]

Yes, I love that poem. For its beauty, and also for the game world it inspired the name for, where I have spent many happy hours - Wraeclast (Path of Exile).

[@Correctrix]

It seems unlikely to me that Simon is unaware of it.

[@droneswarm7888]

The Wanderer is different in tone. The speaker is forlorn, while the Seafarer has some kick in his step, some joy and choice in his self exile.

[@FrozenMermaid666]

This poem isn’t from that time - it is more recent and secretly written by agents!

[@jakubpociecha8819]

I honestly like how we can look at Early Medieval poems like we do at freshly-printed modern books and study their context like one

[@warboats]

It would be great to see more videos like this once in a while. Your delivery in the original language was very calming. Nice one.

[@terryroots5023]

You underestimate your literary acumen, Simon. A thought provoking video.

[@dthephoneme4804]

Oh, this was a great video! It's nice to have something with a totally different topic once in a while.

[@heronsdoor4658]

It's fascinating to hear your thoughts on this alongside your reading. I'm looking forward to anything else you might say about the poem. It's difficult to know how closely the copies in The Exeter Book are to the originals, particularly several of the poems that appear Pagan such as The Seafarer and The Wanderer. I personally think that there might be two voices; the earlier poet and the later bishop or monk who made the copies for the Exeter Book. Having said this, the main body of work in these poems says a great deal about the narrator, the connection they have with nature and the elements, and their own philosophical ideas about the self and the world around them while in service to a lord. Spending long hours at sea likely gave the narrator time to contemplate. This is probably why they are somewhat disconnected from normal village/community life. They have experienced something that many wouldn't.

[@sarahpassell226]

Not only do I find the OE original beautiful to look at and to hear, and very readable for any native English speaker with the translation at hand, I think your exegesis does it justice.

[@aliciavquinn]

I remember reading The Seafarer and The Wanderer together. Both have stuck with me for years. Great video!

[@davedawson9851]

Well I never. I found 'The Seafarer' here and will read it now. It rings true I think. Thank you Simon.

[@marianenasheva5378]

Poetry is an unparalleled preserving agent

[@mwflanagan1]

Enjoyable and informative, as always, and also anchored (as you often do) to nature. As you deem it appropriate to include nature, it indicates a depth and breadth that simple language tricks would not accomplish. Much appreciated, Simon.

[@11tigerclaw11]

I always enjoy your posts 👍🏻. First time hearing this poem. Reminds me how much I miss my youth spent at sea.

[@peters.778]

For my job (as environmental scientist), I was lucky enough to visit some pretty remote places. But I felt most lonely on the sea staring at water. It is probably one of the few places which indeed do not belong to the human habitat.

[@MrVegavision]

Thank you, Simon. I wish my teachers at school had given such clear & interesting thoughts about poems.

[@NH-rn3wz]

I vote Simon reads and analyzes more poetry. It was thoroughly enjoyable.

[@teamcrumb]

Simon your videos are fantastic, but this truly so special

[@last_night_in_my_garden]

Maybe you would consider reading the whole poem for us, with the translation also on the screen - as you did with those short exerpts? Lovely to hear and see. And The Wanderer too...?

[@Travelswithgirlbear]

I would love that

[@ireneventzke-brandt4038]

Great. I had to exercises on this poem at my exam at university. Despite that I still like it. Now I can understand it better. More of that stuff please

[@kilsestoffel3690]

This reminds me of my old german teacher. He recited poems of Walther von der Vogelweide (1170 - 1230) and the Hildebrandslied (8th century). Than was way better than the regular curiculum

[@chloebrown5856]

I loved hearing your analysis.

[@droneswarm7888]

Excellent! Especially about the network local and communal contrasted with today’s network global and individualistic.

[@vindolanda6974]

I understand that our modern romanticising of nature and the sea is influenced by the romantic movement in the 18th-19th centuries. Its possible someone from the 9th C would have seen nature very differently.

[@peterhendriks1602]

Nice idea Simon. I like getting insight into the mentality of people from the past. By the way you impressed me with that video about translating Dutch sentences. With your knowledge of old English the girl didn't manage to trick you.

[@jakubpociecha8819]

3:56 "And if an animal diverges from it's proper habitat it's seen as an impostor"

[@sue1342]

Thanks Simon, I really enjoyed listening to the poem. Interesting visuals too.

[@scottnyc6572]

I found your videos have been insightful and thought provoking.Please don’t give up!! In passing observation as an American of Anglo-Saxon ancestry you resemble early relatives in my family-fathers side. This can be another tangent of exploration perhaps.They say we all have a twin out there somewhere.This is just something I’ve been picking up lately,it’s complicated however imagine discovering an entire group of resembling each other with similar backgrounds? Just a thought,thanks again.

[@MsWonderlicious]

Enriching lives as ever - thank you 🙏

[@bob___]

My favorite Old English poem

[@johnleake5657]

How that Early Medieval label jars with me! For me the Middle Ages in England start with 1066, a period that follows the Anglo Saxon period. Odd how this antiquated school periodization sticks with me, despite my having specialized in Late Antique history and being more than happy to use Early Medieval as a description in the history of continental Europe!

[@sunwukong6897]

I loved this, and I would love to see more!

[@MartinAhlman]

Love the video! I wouldn't mind seeing more videos like this.

[@cdmon3221]

I hope you will create a video about 'The Wanderer' as well. I find this Anglo-Saxon poem to have an almost philosophical approach to loss and loneliness.

[@Bildgesmythe]

Beautiful, thank you.

[@AmericanGuy7654]

The Wanderer and the Seafarer are some of the best, most melancholic pieces of literature hands down

[@jaojao1768]

Would love more videos about poems!

[@noahjester9615]

While the subversiveness of proclaiming the virtues of solitude has gone down since those times, I think the subversiveness of proclaiming the attraction of discomfort has gone up. I’ve found myself thinking about abnegation and solitude very much lately as a response to our (my) role in shaping the current state of world, which I find shameful, and this resonated with me. Thanks much, Simon

[@darraghchapman]

6:28 I like that whoever put the dowels in thought to align the grain to the planks... come to think of it, who makes pegs across the grain?!? Really dig the macro film you use to 'frame your words', as well as the obvious great OE insights. I reckon you'd really like Richard Dawson, if not for his music (which has plenty to sink one's teeth into linguistically), then for his graphic work.

[@ianenters9926]

Thank you for this reading and your rich comments. My booklet Word Hoard gives a contemporary edge to a range of Old English poems with commentaries. Seafarer and Wanderer are two of them. Amazon carries the booklet, of course. Just to say that although both poems have similarities, the Seafarer's view of God is decidedly more Old Testament than the sorrowful resignation of the explicitly religious commentary in the Wanderer. It may well be that the latter religious elements were added later to bring some consolation to the bleakness.

[@trinity_null]

8:18 you just slayed all of us lmfao

[@johnfenn3188]

I really like that, Simon.

[@CraftsmanOfAwsomenes]

When the animal is sus. But really, very interesting as always.

[@meusisto]

Please, create a "aleph with beth" kind of channel for Old English. :) That is the gold standard now!

[@GodLandon]

I’ve never given the poem a second look, cool

[@jakubpociecha8819]

4:22 "The seafarer is an impostor on the sea"

[@Eueueyw]

amogus

[@jamiekomodo1751]

On the first slide -- and it does make sense -- you're taking wunade as a spelling variant of wunode, I see. Coincidentally it's is the old Frisian cognate (wunian wunia), or so wikipedia tells me. Good reading! I like the Seafarer too.

[@ianreclusado]

This is just really great, thank you

[@peteacher52]

Could you read a selection from the Book of Kells at some point, please? The peerless calligraphy is one thing, but what did the words sound like?

[@pauls9440]

Keep up the detours please!

[@piratejack6577]

When the animal is not in its natural place Sus

[@SirRockatansky]

You have a young Graham Hancock vibe, and it's great.

[@jovanblom7742]

Ooh, baby, I love it when you speak foreign! Jus' kiddin' - thanks for the great vid, Simon

[@advwharton]

Thank you, Simon.

[@mattcarnevali]

I really hope you could do a video like this on the Wanderer or the Ruin

[@frankharr9466]

That was interesting, thank you. Even now, we seak each other out and go a little odd if we can't, even in recordings.

[@wilsonsticks]

4:13 IM-Im-. . .IMPOSTER?!?!?!?!?! SUS SUS SUS SUS SUS SUS SUS SUS SUS WHEN THE SEAFARER IS SUS!!!! DING DING DING DING DING DING DING, DING-DING-DING

[@connectingthedots100]

Loved it!

[@nickhubbard3671]

A great video!

[@AnHonestDoubter]

Thoughts on the translation by Ezra Pound?

[@jaojao1768]

Very interesting video!

[@Leo-us4wd]

Have you done a video in the cockney accent?

[@De_Futura]

Great video my dude.

[@jeremycurle6880]

was that your own translation of the poem on screen? if not, what translation is it?

[@Inanutshell-d8l]

❤

[@LimeyRedneck]

💜🤠

[@thumbstruck]

Wondering: is referring to a ship as "she" a holdover from OE?

[@nevem5010]

💖

[@Terrierized]

Man is not a fish, although a seafarer would likely tell you, even tho he's not physically among the water, it is the water that is home

[@johnlamberton9935]

This poem always causes me to think of that old pop song “Brandy” that was in the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack. Just goes to show I’m far less intelligent than Simon, I guess

[@michael.bombadil9984]

Not a detour at all, in my opinion. Enjoyable.

[@Marco_Venieri]

I am italian and my favourite language for sounds is old english, along with Finnish. But old english literature is better.

[@SporeMurph]

OOH! Daphnia! (Water Fleas!)

[@bageled_meme2690]

BEDSHEETTT

[@willodling9945]

4:21 the seafarer is sus

[@mike-0451]

Seafarer is sus 🙄