Anglo-Saxon Poems Answers

1) Narrator describes life at sea as very cold, dark, and lonely. But he also says that he cant stop because he enjoys going to far foreign places.

2) "Mighty spears have slain these men, greedy weapons have framed their fate." The narrator hinted that they were all killed by raiders or perhaps another tribe or group.

3) She wants her husband to suffer the same pain and loneliness that she had to endure.

4) In each poem the characters are experiencing great loneliness, each poem also talk about what it used to be like or better lives they could be living. In "The Seafarer" the narrator talks about how warm and good life is inland. In "The Wanderer" he reminisces about his old tribe that was slaughtered. In "The Wife's Lament" she says that her and her husband were very close and lived together but she was exiled by stress from his people.

5) All of the three poems are very similar in the way that they all are people that are experiencing longing for a better life, the are also suffering from some sort of exile whether it was forced or it was put on by choice. Each of the poems compare their situations to being cold dark and lonely which causes great sadness.

6) The people of this time were able to endure great hardships and stretches of loneliness because they believed that they would be rewarded after death by going to heaven. 

8) They might tell her that dwelling on your sadness will not resolve the problem, and that turning to god will give you a silver lining after death and bring her eternal happiness in return for a short time of suffering.

9) I believe that the speaker changes after line 64 in "The Seafarer" because the way the the poem shifts feels completely different. The poem starts with the narrator saying how hard and lonely it was to live his live, but that the reason he does it is because he views traveling around the wold and living in different places rewarding. The second part makes it feel like that wasn't enough reward for his effort and that he would be rewarded by going to heaven after death. The second half was said in the form of a prayer where as the first half barely mentions the presence of god.

"The Book of Margery Kemp" Answers

1) Because her pains were so severe after giving birth she thought that she was going to die.

2) for a little more than eight weeks Margery Kemp was seeing vivid hallucinations of spirits and the devil this caused her to lash out and hurt her self, so she was tied down.

3) She was visited by Jesus Christ and he said, "Daughter why have you forsaken me, and I have never forsook you?" After that she said that the voices in her head stopped and she was better.

4) At first she presented herself as a sinful person that could not be forgiven and would be judged by the priests. She does this because what ever she did, she deemed it to terrible to tell anybody. But she was still a god fearing person but just thought that she couldn't be forgiven.

5) I think that Kempe had an extremely difficult time dealing with guilt with what ever it was that she did, that mixed with the stress and pain of having children could have caused her to go into a deep depression. The religious part of her life tied into her social life as well because during the time god was a huge part of everyone's life and knowing that there was a higher power watching and judging her helped to bring her out of her depression and turn her life around. 

6) Kempe's transformation changes her life for the better because she was able to gather her thoughts without the "the devil" clouding her mind. Her transformation symbolizes rebirth and forgiveness because before she was tied to her bed and her mind was filled with spirits and the devil. Only with forgiveness from Jesus was she able to function properly.

8) As a non religious person I view Kempe as someone who was deeply troubled and felt a tremendous amount of guilt for what ever it was that she did. I also think that the only way that she could cope with with her guilt was getting reassurance that it was okay and that she was forgiven.

Start To Test Essay

The Pentangle Shield In Relation To Sir Gawain

   

Sir Gawain wields a shield throughout his journey that represents his own personal code of honor, which he tries his best to uphold. The shield will be further described as well as how well Gawain stands up to his code.

        Almost a year after Sir Gawain’s encounter with the green knight, his shield was described before he went out in search of the green chapel. The outward facing side was solid red with a gold pentangle, which is a five pointed symbol where the lines are interlocked and never ending. On the other side the Virgin Mary. The pentangle was said to be created by Solomon (625), it represents Gawain’s five senses, five fingers, the five wounds of Jesus Christ, and the five joys of Mary (annunciation, nativity, resurrection, ascension, assumption). Lastly it symbolizes the five virtues of Gawain; generosity, good fellowship, cleanness, courtesy, and compassion. The reverse side which features the Virgin Mary, who was regarded very highly for being the mother of Jesus while still being a virgin she is also regarded as a symbol for purity.

    There are a few examples of Gawain’s generosity, first is his willingness to take his kings place in the beheading contest against the green knight when nobody else would. “I am the weakest in wit; loss of my life is there for of little account” (354) Gawain generously offered himself to play the game so that no harm would come to anybody else he deemed more important to the court. “Now, heavy with care, they counselled the knight and many suffered in their sorrow secretly.”(556) Gawain put on good cheer. Why should I hesitate? He said. Kind or severe, we must engage our fate.” In this part of the story Gawain is about to embark on a journey of almost certain doom, and the other knights are trying to hide how sad they are. Gawain, instead of showing fear or regret, generously puts on a happy face and tells them that everyone has to follow their fate. He did this in an attempt to make stop feeling sorry for him and to encourage his destiny.

Good fellowship was another part of Gawain’s code, this can be displayed when he agrees to stay at Bercilak’s castle as a guest until after the New Years. He tries to be a good guest and show friendship. Gawain also shows good fellowship when he partakes in all the different games that he participates in, for example he plays the game with the lord and others to try and fight the lord and take the cloak that he placed on a spear (986). Another major example is his participation in the bargain between the lord and Gawain where for three days whatever the lord won while hunting would be Gawain’s and what Gawain wins would become the lord’s. Sir Gawain showed good fellowship the first two of the three days but on the third, Gawain withheld his winnings and broke the bargain which wasn’t a friendly thing to do even though it conflicted with a different promise.

Gawain’s third virtue was cleanliness, he demonstrated this every time the lord’s wife came in to his bed chambers. Cleanliness can be a symbol for purity or virginity, whenever the lady went into Gawain’s bed chambers she came with the intent of sleeping with him. Gawain showed restraint in keeping himself clean, as each day the lady used a different tactic while her husband was away.

Gawain showed his fourth virtue, courtesy which can be described as showing respect toward somebody. He does this when he takes Arthurs place in the beheading game against the green knight, out of respect for his king he was willing to risk his well being for his king and kingdom. Another example of Gawain showing courtesy was when he respected his friendship with the lord and refused any and all sexualy advances put on yo him from the lady. While doing so he also managed to respect the lady’s feeling by offering his knightly services and protection.

Sir Gawain managed to adhere to his personal knightly code. He successfully displayed his honor through all five of his virtues, except for when it came to fellowship because he failed to give the lord the girdle that he had received. Gawain was a near perfect knight, but had a minor flaw when it came to this virtue.

Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Part 4 Answers

   1)      Gawain starts in Camelot, a place full of life and happiness, where they were having a party, their playing games, and everyone is very devout in their faith. But while he was at the castle in the woods this faith was tested and he failed because he put his faith in a magical girdle rather than god, so in a way his faith had died. Afterwards he goes to the green chapel which is a place of rebirth where he got forgiven for all his deeds by the green knight, he then returned to the party place that is Camelot.

   2)      Gawain is reborn both physically and spiritually, he is reborn spiritually because he lost his faith in god to be able to save his life, but when he learned that it was a game and that he wasn’t going to die he regained his faith in god. Gawain was physically reborn because everybody including himself believed that he was already dead and that there was no way he was going to survive. But when he returns, it was as if Gawain had come back from the dead and was reborn.

   3)      The point of view we are supposed to exact the end of the book is the green knight’s because he is the one that tests Gawain and he said that even though he failed in one aspect, he did better than most people would and that he will be proud of it.

   4)      I don’t believe that Gawain is ruined as a knight because even though at the time being he feels like a failure, everyone is telling him that he is a brave knight and that his minor mistakes are forgiven, this will help bring Gawain back to his somewhat normal self.

   5)      Morgan Lafey was the one in control because she planned the test for Gawain, although the green knight and his wife planned the test of his ability to control himself around the lady. Gawain had zero control over the situation because he no clue that the journey was just a game and he was completely fooled.

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight Part 3 Answers

1)      In each of the bedroom scenes the lady resembled the animal her husband was hunting on each corresponding day. The first day they hunted doe, which were defenseless and could not fight back. Like the deer’s attempt at surviving, which didn’t work, neither did the ladies advances with Gawain. On the second day they hunted boar, which was aggressive and fought back but ultimately failed. Like the boar the lady was more aggressive with Gawain but only managed to get a kiss. On the third day they hunted a fox which is cunning and quick, even though it came the closest to escaping it was still caught and killed. The lady this time snuck into Gawain’s bed chambers and was a little more subtle with her attempt, but this still failed although she still managed to get three kisses and gave him her “magical” girdle.

2)      Yes, I believe that Gawain was very polite when it came to handling the lady, because no matter what he refused to sleep with the lady while also not insulting her. When it comes to the lord he acted honorably when it came to the situations with his wife, but he made one mistake and that was not giving the lord the girdle even though it might have been for the better it put a dent in his honor.

3)        

4)      The girdle is a symbol for magic and paganism as it is supposedly supposed to protect whoever wears it. It also shows Gawain’s faith in god had weakened because accepted the the girdle rather than putting all his faith in god.

5)      Lines 1788 to 1789

“I have no love, by St John, I swear for all I’m worth!”

This is an obvious reference to St John who was the male parallel to Mary who was a symbol for virginity and purity.

Lines 1852 to 1854

“While he keeps it closely wound around him He cannot be cut down by any man nor slain By any cleverness or cunning under the whole heaven.”

The lady is saying that the girdle is a magical item that protects the wearer from any harm, which goes against most Christian beliefs.