Essay Questions

Why does the narrator claim people are slaves in the poem “Are Ye Truly Free?”

The poem mentioned above is a religious one and thus the people who are described as being slaves, the narrator refers to those a person being a slave from a religious point of view. First of all, the men and women are described as being slaves because they are unable to show compassion towards other people. The narrator reprimands them for not being able to stop themselves from living their selfish lives to help others and because they are always focusing on their own needs. Another reason why these two groups are called slaves is because they are all subject to their desires and feelings. The narrator points out numerous times in the poem that neither the men nor the women were fully capable of controlling themselves when it came to their feelings and desires and this often meant those people were committing sin.

Who is Sir Launfal mentioned in the poem “The Vision of Sir Launfal”?

Sir Launfal is a name which appears for the first time in the 14th century is another poem linked with the story of King Arthur. Sir Launfal is described as being a close friend to King Arthur and is described as bring a frequent member of the court before King Arthur and Guinevere married. Sir Launfal is one of the members of the court when King Arthur decides to marry Guenevere and is then targeted by the new Queen. Sir Launfal decides to leave the court shortly after King Arthur marries and returns to his hometown where he lives in poverty. When King Arthur throws a banquet in Sir Launfal village, the Sir Launfal is not invented to attend because of his lack of social status. The story of Sir Launfal was then retold countless times, most poets and authors focusing on his bad fortune and on the way in which a person’s situation can change drastically in a short period of time. the poem “The Vision of Sir Launfal” focuses on this as well as analyzing the dire consequences a person must suffer if they decide to break their word and go against a promise they once made.

Who are the three women mentioned in the poem “The Washers of the Shrouds”?

The three women described in this poem are linked with the Norse mythology and are most commonly referred to as the Norns. These three women are considered as being the most powerful beings, their power suppressing even that of the Gods. According to the legend, the Norns are the women who control the fate of the universe. In some writings, the number of the Norns are to revealed and in fact many believed there existed a large number of Norns, living all over the world. Still, there are distinguished Norns in the mythology, named the Past, the Present and the Future, three women who lived under the Ygdrassil tree, a place from where they controlled the fate of every living being in every realm in the universe.