The Fortunes of Men, also The Fates of Men or The Fates of Mortals, is the title given to an Old English gnomic poem

Gnomic poetry

Gnomic poetry consists of sententious maxims put into verse to aid the memory. They were known by the Greeks as gnomes, from the Greek word for "an opinion".A gnome was defined by the Elizabethan critic Henry Peacham as...

 of 98 lines in the Exeter Book

Exeter Book

The Exeter Book, Exeter Cathedral Library MS 3501, also known as the Codex Exoniensis, is a tenth-century book or codex which is an anthology of Anglo-Saxon poetry. It is one of the four major Anglo-Saxon literature codices. The book was donated to the library of Exeter Cathedral by Leofric, the...

, fols. 87a–88b.

Summary

Having first referred to a child's coming of age, the poem describes a number of (particularly fatal) misfortunes which may then befall one: a youth's premature death, famine, warfare and infirmity, the deprivations of a traveller, death at the gallows or on the pyre and self-destructive behaviour through intemperate drinking. However, a man of mature age may also prosper in terms of his material wealth and friends, and achieve happiness. The poet explains that the distribution of man's fortunes and misfortunes is in God's hands, including that of one's skills and talents: martial dexterity (throwing and shooting), cunning at board-games, scholarly wisdom and the craft of a goldsmith. The same applies to one's success or skills in cheering one's drinking fellows or in singing and plucking the harp, while sitting at the feet of one's lord. The last image drawn from Anglo-Saxon life is that of taming the hawk. Apart from underpinning the vast array of skills made available to men, it may also be intended to serve as an analogy to the opening image of the child clothed, reared and disciplined by his parents. In conclusion, the poem praises God's supreme skill in measuring out and managing the many and various destinies of men and urges its audience to express gratitude to the benevolent Ruler.

External links

• Edition, The Labyrinth, Resources for Medieval Studies (Georgetown University)
• Audio-recording and translation, Anglo-Saxon Aloud (comp. Michael D. C. Drout)