Widsith
Sign in to savethumb|First lines of "Widsith"
Article
9 sectionsContents
- Date of composition
- Contents
- Tribes of Widsith
- Interpretation
- Original Old English text and translation
- See also
- Notes
- References
- External links
thumb|First lines of "Widsith"
"Widsith" (, "far-traveller", lit. "wide-journey"), also known as '''"The Traveller's Song"', is an Old English poem of 143 lines. It survives only in the Exeter Book (pages 84v–87r), a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late-10th century, which contains approximately one-sixth of all surviving Old English poetry. "Widsith" is located between the poems "Vainglory" and "The Fortunes of Men". Since the donation of the Exeter Book'' in 1076, it has been housed in Exeter Cathedral in southwestern England. The poem is for the most part a survey of the people, kings, and heroes of Europe in the Heroic Age of Northern Europe.