Lyric Modes and Metaphor inThe Wife's Lament

Decades of analysis ofThe Wife's Lamentbased on a presumed, underlying narrative have produced interpretations that are contradictory and competing. As a lyric poem,The Wife's Lamentis more profitably approached through its non-narrative elements, especially metaphor and intertextuality. Two major metaphors controlThe Wife's Lament: "Wife as exiled retainer"-currently uncontroversial-and "Wife as seer from beyond the grave." The latter metaphor is supported by a verbal parallel from Old Frisian and by character analogues from the Poetic Edda.