The Exeter BookThe Exeter Book is the largest extant collection of Old English poetry. The manuscript was donated 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 x 8.6 inches. The most famous works contained in the Exeter Book include "The Wanderer", "The Wife's Lament", "The Seafarer" and "Wulf and Eadwacer". In addition to the 31 main poems, 96 puzzles are also included in the collection. The manuscript was probably copied by a single scribe in 975, although "The Wanderer" is believed to date from the conversion of Anglo-Saxon tribes to Christianity in the 6th century. "The Wife's Lament" may be earlier than "The Tramp" because it "does not offer typical Christian consolation for his despair and seems to reflect a pre-conversion pagan attitude towards his own destiny" (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 a lament for the dead and the glories of the past. The narrator of the poem has lost his relatives in battle and wanders alone contemplating 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 is illustrated when he remembers “embracing and kissing his lord lord and placing his hands and head on his knees” (Wanderer 101). The narrator's stoic attitude reflects the Anglo-Saxon culture in which men were supposed to be brave and emotionless. Despite this convention, the narrator's grief is strongly conveyed in the passage Ubi Sunt (“Where are they?”) when he asks, “Where did the horse go? Where is the young warrior? Where is the giver of the treasure?” (Wanderer 101). The narrator's lament also shows the permeating cultural belief that everything in life is predetermined by fate. This is seen when the narrator imagines the end of the world in an eternal winter when "all the kingdom of the earth shall be miserable [and] the world under the heavens shall be changed by the working of the destinies" (Wanderer 102). The poem ends with a strong reference to Christianity in the lines: "It will do well for those who seek favor, comfort from the Father who is in heaven, where for us lies all stability" (Wanderer 102).