The Exeter BookThe Exeter Book is the largest existing collection of Old English poetry. The manuscript was gifted to the library of Exeter Cathedral by its first bishop, Leofric, in the late 10th century. The book consists of 131 sheets of parchment measuring approximately 12.5 by 8.6 inches. The most famous works contained in Exeter's book include "The Wanderer", "The Wife's Lament", "The Seafarer" and "Wulf and Eadwacer". In addition to the 31 major poems, 96 riddles are also included in the collection. The manuscript was probably copied by a single scribe in 975, although "The Wanderer" dates back to the conversion of Anglo-Saxon tribes to Christianity in the 6th century. “The Woman's Lament” may predate “The Wanderer” because “it offers none of the typical Christian consolations for his despair and seems to reflect a pre-conversion pagan attitude toward one's fate” (The Exeter Book). Both poems are invaluable resources in their depiction of the precepts and roles of men and women in Anglo-Saxon society. “The Wanderer” is an elegy, or lament for the dead and the glories of the past. The narrator of the poem has lost his loved ones in battle and wanders alone and contemplates the temporal nature of life. It is clear that the narrator respects the comitatus, the bond of loyalty between a lord and his warriors, as illustrated when he remembers "kissing and kissing his liege lord and laying his hands and head on his knees » (Wanderer 101). The narrator's stoic attitude reflects Anglo-Saxon culture in which men were expected to be courageous and impassive. Despite this convention, the narrator's grief is strongly expressed in the passage from Ubi Sunt ("Where are they?") when he asks, "Where has the horse gone?" Where is the young warrior? Where is the giver of the treasure? (Wanderer 101). The narrator's lament also reflects the pervasive cultural belief that everything in life is predetermined by fate. This is seen when the narrator envisions the end of the world in an eternal winter when “all the kingdom of earth is wretched [and] the world under heaven is transformed by the work of fate” (Wanderer 102). The poem ends with a strong reference to Christianity in the verses: "All will be well with him who seeks favor, comfort with the Father in heaven, where for us all stability lies" (Wanderer 102).