Integrity of The Poem
The poem is preserved only in the Exeter Book, one of the few surviving poetic compilations from the Anglo-Saxon period. The Exeter Book came into existence some time in the 10th century, with some estimates placing the origin of the book as early as 970. The book contains over 90 riddles as well as many other poetic works. The manuscript suffered burn damage to the first passage of the poem. The burn spots prevent anyone from knowing the actual meaning of lines 2 to 8 because some of the words are missing. From the random words of those lines, it can be determined that the poem is told in first person, that the speaker refers to his origin as a tree, that there is a frequent journey by ship, that another country is involved, and a lord sent the speaker to seek his true love. There is damage to other lines of the poem as well, though not as drastic as the damage to lines 2-8.
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“This poem is concerned with language on a very plain level.
Look at it talking to you.”
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