The Wanderer Man and the Natural World Quotes Page 2
Citations follow this format: (Line).
| Quote #4 [...] Now here and there across the Middle-Earth |
Later in the poem, these buildings are called the "work of giants." The fact that wind and storms have the ability to shake them and cause them to crumble is a testament to nature's ability to destroy the creations of mankind, even the ones that seem most permanent.
| Quote #5 [...] One a bird bore off |
The "beasts of battle" that benefit from the slaughter of war is an oft-repeated motif in Anglo-Saxon poetry. Here, just like the winter weather in the previous lines, nature has the ability to dismember and destroy.
| Quote #6 Stands now behind the dear war-band |
The "snake-shapes" carved on the wall behind the fallen men remind us of the beasts of battle mentioned a few lines earlier, making the wall seem vaguely threatening. These lines also say that "ash-spears" are "hungry" for corpses. The ash-tree was the raw material for these weapons, and the fact that it's mentioned here at all, and that the ash-spears are personified, makes the ash-tree partially responsible for these deaths. Once again, nature destroys.
