The Seafarer is usually taught as being an Old English poem of Christian origin, but reflecting a heathen subtext in the culture and poetic forms. Accordingly, this is how it is translated, and how it is received by the next generation of those who like to poke their noses into dusty old tomes. However, the evidence of its origin can be interpreted differently, to show that the poem is rather a bare rewording , with an addendum, of a heathen poem, to conform to Christian belief. With that in mind, a different translation needs to be provided, which reflects what may be the original, heathen, character of the poem.

To support that need, what follows comes in three principal parts. The first is a discussion of the poem itself, and how its construction and themes point to the heathen origin of the material. Secondly, there is a discussion of what went into the heathen translation; why certain names were chosen above others, and a bare discussion of vocabulary issues. Finally, there is the translation itself; a partial rewrite of the poem based on a copy of the Exeter book text, replacing Christian references with those more appropriate to a heathen context. As a note, when a standard Modern English translation is referenced, it will refer to W.S. Mackie's venerable translation in the Old English Text Society's publication of The Exeter Book. Unlike the Crossley-Holland translations available, Mackie's translation is closer to the Exeter Book's form; Crossley-Holland seems to be missing more than ten lines in his condensation of the text to Modern English.

The Seafarer is traditionally divided into three sections, and which of these sections is part of the original composition is debated.. The first part is almost purely about the life of a seafarer, of a lament for the life of sailor; longing for the comforts of hearth and home while at sea, but for the sea itself when at home, and lasts until line 64a. I contend that the division between original composition is better placed at the end of the second part which lasts through line 102. This section contains themes that are still quite heathen, yet tie neatly into the previous section's theme of the hard life of the seafarer, away from the comforts of the hall. The last section, from line 103 through the end is completely homiletic; the sea exists only as something that has been separated from solid land.

To those familiar with Germanic and Scandinavian religion, the first part of The Seafarer (to line 102) contains very obvious heathen imagery. Save for the use of the singular when referring to Gods, one would be hard-pressed not to see this sung at a heathen lord's mead-hall. Many of the sentiments expressed within the second part mirror those within the corpus of surviving heathen material from Iceland. For example, both the Seafarer and the Hávamál speak of the transitory nature of mortal life, and the importance of having deeds which will survive yourself. One can see this by comparing lines 64b-80a to the following two stanzas from the Hávamál:

Similarly, both speak of the fact that no man lives forever, and that gold will not serve a man who is dead, as a comparison of lines 80b-102 in the Seafarer with the following stanzas from the Hávamál shows.

Obviously, these virtues and ideas are counted amongst Christianity's, as well. However, they are often described as discounting the heathen nature of the poem, rather than enforcing it , so they become important as evidence that the accepted interpretation of the poem's origins in Christianity is not the only supportable conclusion.

More compellingly, the Exeter book itself raises several questions about the conventional wisdom that the poem is of Christian origin. The book was certainly not the first time the poem was recorded, merely the only one to survive the thirteen hundred years between the book's compilation and today. Its construction and the condition of the text show, however, that the Exeter book may be of flawed construction, which has lead to the erroneous attribution of the last lines of the poem to the Seafarer. Line 102, the last line in what I consider to be the original poem, would seem to be the end of a gather, meaning that one could easily insert more material after it by inserting a new gather. In addition, the text after line 103 shows signs of mutilation and interpolation; so much so that it has been suggested by others that lines 103-124 maybe be part of a group of gnomic verses, inserted after The Seafarer by a binders mistake. This is further strengthened because the poem is immediately followed in the Exeter Book (likely on the same gather) by A Warning Against Pride, which is in turn followed by Widsið (likely on the next gather), a historical poem. If this were the intended order, it is quite odd. Lines 103-124 begins with "Great is the terror of the Judge", and as such would fit better after section fourteen, The Wonders of Creation, which now ends with an injunction to avoid vice, and is followed by a Rhymed Poem which speaks of the wonder and glory of God. I would suggest that the proper order of sections nine through fifteen is in fact:

This is logically and thematically a more appropriate organization for the sections, and removes the non-sequitor of lines 103-124 from the Seafarer to a more appropriate place.

The heathen translation provided below is quite similar to the traditional version, largely because no attempt was made to translate the lines past one hundred and two, which I believe are erroneously attributed to the Seafarer. However, several assumptions within the translation are made which do not come to the fore in the Christian versions, as they largely assume that the speaker is a peregrinus, or wandering monk on a spiritual journey. The assumption behind this translation is that the man is simply one who loves the sea, and has dedicated himself to Njord. This is appropriate, as not only is Njord a sailor's god, but he is also one associated with summer, when the mind of an Anglo-Saxon seafarer would turn to ocean voyages. His call to the sea is not one of exile, but rather of desire for the waves, even though he's usually miserable at sea. Something of this leaks through in the poetry, especially lines 19a-26; while the speaker is talking of the hardships of sea, there is a passion behind the words that shows his love for it.

Of course, beyond the names of Gods, other changes had to be made. "Deofle" in line 76 is traditionally translated as "devil" or "The Devil", a concept which would be foreign to an Angle. Therefore, it has been changed to "foes". Similarly, on line 78, the word "englum" is usually translated to "Angels". However, since this is also out of the heathen character, it has been changed to "Angles", reverse engineering the famous exclamation of a Pope. Slight changes have also been made throughout the text to account for modern grammar, though these have only been where the offenses were most obvious. The intent of this translation is, after all, to capture what I believe to be the original spirit of the poem, and thus faithfulness to the text is essential.

This translation is based off the text as preserved in Seven Old English Poems by John C. Pope. My weakness in the language required that I make extensive use of his glossary, and I thus thank him for his support here.

10. cold-gripped, there the sorrows lamented

15. that winter remained on the paths of an exile

of beloved kinsmen bereft,

hung with icicles; hail showers flew.

There I heard naught but the roaring sea,

ice-cold surf. While the swan sang

20. I sang to myself for entertainment, gannet's call

and curlew's sound instead of the laughter of men,

seagull singing for mead-drink.

There storms beat crags, there the tern answered,

icy-feathered one; Very often that eagle screamed,

25. icy-feathered one; not any protective kinsmen

could comfort this wretched soul.

"Therefore he admits to himself little, he who possessed life's joy

had waited in strongholds, taken few bitter journeys,

proud and drunk, how I often weary

30. on a voyage had to remain..

Darkened the shadow of night, from the north snowed,

rime the earth held captive, hail fell on the earth,

coldest of kernels." "Indeed importune now

heart's thoughts that I downcast seas,

35. salt-sea wave tossing self-testing;

reminding heart's desire each time's

heart to journey, that I far from here

a land of strangers to seek.

Indeed not proud of spirit is this man over earth,

40. nor to that extent his gift good, nor to that extent in youth,

nor to that extent brave in his deed, nor to that extent kind to his lord,

that he always to his sea voyages and has not anxiety,

for what Njord will bring to him.

Nor will he to harp's purpose nor to rings receive

45. nor to his wife's joy nor to world's pleasure

nor round anything of another sort except near sea-waves rolling;

but always having longing that he will go to sea.

"Groves take on blossoms, strongholds become beautiful,

meadows brighten; the world hastens on;

50. all that reminds of a soul eager to set out

heart to venture whoever so desires

on the path of the ocean far away to fare.

Likewise the cuckoo urges with mournful speech;

singing summer's guardian, sorrow forebodes

55. bitter feelings. That there warrior knows not,

a man with blessings of comfort, what those ones endure

on the paths of exile which lay farthest.

"Indeed now my purpose takes its course over the enclosure of the heart,

my soul with the ocean stream,

60. over the whale's home takes its far course,

the earth's vastness, comes back to me

ravenous and greedy; what lonely flyer

cries out irresistibly on the whale way's bosom

over the wave's expanse; Because I am hot

65. for Njord's delights rather than this fleeting, dead

life on land. I do not believe

that earthly wealth remains forever.

Always three of one's retainers each

before his final day becomes uncertain:

70. disease or old age or the sword's hate

fate him to die, life wrested away.

For indeed will jarls each after a man's death speak,

praising to the living the best reputations he left behind.

What he makes, before he away must go,

75. great deeds on Earth, towards his enemies violence,

brave deeds against his foes.,

that the children of men after him will praise,

and his praise afterwards will live amongst the Angles

always through the ages, eternal life's blood,

80. the entertainment of old men. "The days have departed

of all the pomp and glory of the Earth's kingdoms;

are not now kings nor emperors

nor gold-givers as of old were?

Then they must with his glorious deeds compete

85. and in the most lordly glory live.

Fallen are all these warriors, their joy has departed;

remain then the inferior and this world guard,

to make use of through troubles. Blood is brought low,

Earth's nobility grows old and withers,

90. and likewise will each man across Midgard.

Old age overtakes him, his face grows pale,

a grey-haired man mourns, knowing his friends of elder days,

children of high families, are consigned to the earth.

He can not then that flesh-home, when he that life had lost,

95. nor a sweet swallow, nor feel pain,

nor a hand stir, nor with purpose consider.

Though his brother desires to spread gold

on the grave, and bury by the dead

various treasures, those he will not use;

100. nor can that soul who acted so often for woe

use that gold to help in Njord's might

when he before it hides while he here lives.