Wulf and Eadwacer in Old English
This short poem from the Exeter Book is one of the great puzzles of Old English. A woman speaks, and she is separated from someone called Wulf. Nobody agrees who Wulf and Eadwacer are, who the cub is, or even how many men the poem is about. That is much of why people keep reading it.
Learn to read this in Old English
Free, no account. Your first line takes about three minutes.
The text and translation
Lēodum is mīnum swylce him mon lāc gife: Willað hȳ hine āþecgan, gif hē on þrēat cymeð. Ungelīc is ūs:
To my people it is as though someone were giving them a gift; they will destroy him if he comes into their company. It is different for us.
Word by word
- Lēodum
- to the people
- is
- is
- mīnum
- my
- swylce
- as though
- him
- to them
- mon
- someone
- lāc
- a gift [?]
- gife
- might give
- Willað
- will
- hȳ
- they
- hine
- him
- āþecgan
- destroy [?]
- gif
- if
- hē
- he
- on
- into
- þrēat
- the company
- cymeð
- comes
- Ungelīc
- different
- is
- is
- ūs
- for us
Wulf is on īege, ic on ōþerre; fæst is þæt ēglond, fenne biworpen; sindon wælrēowe weras þǣr on īge; willað hȳ hine āþecgan, gif hē on þrēat cymeð. Ungelīce is ūs:
Wulf is on an island, I on another; that island is secure, surrounded by fen. Cruel men are there on the island; they will destroy him if he comes into their company. It is different for us.
Word by word
- Wulf
- Wulf
- is
- is
- on
- on
- īege
- an island
- ic
- I
- on
- on
- ōþerre
- another
- fæst
- secure
- is
- is
- þæt
- that
- ēglond
- island
- fenne
- by fen
- biworpen
- surrounded
- sindon
- are
- wælrēowe
- cruel
- weras
- men
- þǣr
- there
- on
- on
- īge
- the island
- willað
- will
- hȳ
- they
- hine
- him
- āþecgan
- destroy [?]
- gif
- if
- hē
- he
- on
- into
- þrēat
- the company
- cymeð
- comes
- Ungelīce
- differently
- is
- is
- ūs
- for us
Wulfes ic mīnes wīdlāstum wēnum hogode þonne hit wæs rēnig weder ond ic rēotugu sæt, þonne mec se beaducāfa bōgum bilegde; wæs mē wyn tō þon, wæs mē hwæþre ēac lāð.
I brooded on my Wulf with far-wandering hopes, when the weather was rainy and I sat weeping, when the battle-bold man enclosed me in his arms; that brought me joy, yet it also brought me pain.
Word by word
- Wulfes
- of Wulf
- ic
- I
- mīnes
- my
- wīdlāstum
- in far wanderings [?]
- wēnum
- with hopes
- hogode
- brooded
- þonne
- when
- hit
- it
- wæs
- was
- rēnig
- rainy
- weder
- weather
- ond
- and
- ic
- I
- rēotugu
- weeping
- sæt
- sat
- þonne
- when
- mec
- me
- se
- the
- beaducāfa
- battle-bold man
- bōgum
- with arms [?]
- bilegde
- enclosed
- wæs
- was
- mē
- for me
- wyn
- joy
- tō
- in
- þon
- that
- wæs
- was
- mē
- for me
- hwæþre
- yet
- ēac
- also
- lāð
- painful
Wulf, mīn Wulf, wēna mē þīne sēoce gedydon, þīne seldcymas, murnende mōd, nales metelīste.
Wulf, my Wulf, longing for you has made me sick: your rare visits, a grieving heart, rather than lack of food.
Word by word
- Wulf
- Wulf
- mīn
- my
- Wulf
- Wulf
- wēna
- longings
- mē
- me
- þīne
- for you
- sēoce
- sick
- gedydon
- have made
- þīne
- your
- seldcymas
- rare visits
- murnende
- grieving
- mōd
- heart
- nales
- not at all
- metelīste
- shortages of food
Gehȳrest þū, Eadwacer? Uncerne ear(m)ne hwelp bireð Wulf tō wuda; Þæt mon ēaþe tōslīteð, þætte nǣfre gesomnad wæs, uncer giedd geador.
Do you hear, Eadwacer? Wulf carries our wretched cub to the woods. One easily tears apart what was never joined: our song together.
Word by word
- Gehȳrest
- do you hear
- þū
- you
- Eadwacer
- Eadwacer [?]
- Uncerne
- our (us two)
- ear(m)ne
- wretched
- hwelp
- cub [?]
- bireð
- carries
- Wulf
- Wulf (or wolf) [?]
- tō
- to
- wuda
- the woods
- Þæt
- that
- mon
- one
- ēaþe
- easily
- tōslīteð
- tears apart
- þætte
- what
- nǣfre
- never
- gesomnad
- joined
- wæs
- was
- uncer
- our (us two)
- giedd
- song [?]
- geador
- together
What to notice
- Ungelīc is ūs (“it is different for us”) comes back as a refrain, in the second instance slightly changed. Refrains are very rare in Old English verse.
- ear(m)ne carries an editor's correction in brackets, one of several places where the wording of this poem is uncertain.
- uncer giedd geador closes the poem. Uncer is a special form that means “of us two”, and Old English had separate pronouns for exactly two people.
Read it yourself
Urling teaches the words in this text first, so that when you reach it you can read it in Old English. It uses short lessons, and nothing has to be memorised from a list.
Learn to read this in Old English
Free, no account. Your first line takes about three minutes.
Sources
W. J. Sedgefield, An Anglo-Saxon Verse-Book (1922), no. 10, pp. 39-40. Public domain. Transcribed against the page images; preserves the editor's hogode and ear(m)ne.
Text licence: Public domain.
Language pack licence: Texts public domain / CC BY-SA 4.0; annotation CC BY-SA 4.0.
Texts: Caedmon's Hymn, Beowulf lines 1-11, Cnut's proclamation of 1020, The Battle of Maldon lines 312-313, The Wanderer lines 1-7 and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for 793 (all public domain); the Lord's Prayer in Early West Saxon as standardised in Wikipedia's 'Old English' article (CC BY-SA 4.0). Wulf and Eadwacer: W. J. Sedgefield, An Anglo-Saxon Verse-Book (1922), pp. 39-40, public domain; transcribed against the printed pages. Tagging and glosses: AI (Claude; Codex for Wulf and Eadwacer), checked against Wiktionary; not yet reviewed by a person. Additional passages carry their own source credits.
The introduction and notes on this page were written by Claude (AI). Word glosses are AI-assisted, and so is the English unless the source above names another translator.