Loss, Separation and Struggle: Self-Imposed Exile in The Wanderer

At a farm show in Plymouth in 1906 Francis Galton, half-cousin of Charles Darwin, determined that the average guess made by visitors of an ox's weight was more accurate (within 1%) than expert beefranchers.Many people have noticed since then that the aggregate of people's perspectives can lead to results that differ from that of either consensus or expert opinion.I believe that individuals always bring something to the table that is often missed in traditional knowledge gathering, and that we can come to better solutions when we involve everyone.I am currently studying medieval literature.History can expand our ideas of democracy.We are decent at a horizontal democracy by giving a vote to everyone living in Canada.But what about considering the voices of all time -a vertical democracy through time?Either way, participatory democracy today requires informed education, and the best educations are one where students are involved in the learning process, making it their own.When I have a question (my papers always begin with one), my first introduction to a topic is usually open source material online.For example, in finding a relevant translation of the Old English poem The Wanderer (see the attached paper), I found some of the most insightful work done by Sean Miller on anglo-saxon.net,whose innovative line-by-line translation allowed me to change the annotations to see how the translation into modern English was being made, helping me as a I am just beginning to learn the language.My all-time favourite (and most used) institution is the public library.It gives access to learning and other resources, as well as control over education.It also works in another way, by curbing our impulse to buy new things for ourselves.Public libraries demonstrate what sharing might look like in other areas.For example, when I lived in Geneva for only a year while growing up, my siblings and I made good use of a toy-library.We would enjoy a game for a week, then, when we grew tired of it, we passed it on to another child.What if the idea of the public library expanded to all areas of our lives?7 Some critics have suggested a metaphoric exile, where the speaker is in the cultural world, but not of it.This is not necessary; indeed to validate words a nobleman must have matching behaviour.As the Danish coast guard had replied to Beowulf's boasts: "Anyone with gumption / and a sharp mind will take the measure / of two things: what's said and what's done" (ll.287b-289).8 Patrick Cook, "Woriað þa Winsalo: The Bonds of Exile in The Wanderer," Neophilologus 80, no. 1 (1996)

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