Whilst studying 'The Wanderer' I discovered some items that made me question the usual translation it recieves. I now believe it to be an elegaic lamentation of Satan (please note that I am not a Satanist) and wanted to include it in an upcoming thesis for my final year of study. The thesis will be something along the lines of 'the characterisation of Satan in Anglo-Saxon literature.' Possibly with reference to how the perceptions of Satan impacted on the AS culture and literature.
I will be including works such as Christ and Satan, Genesis B, The Wanderer and 'The Gospel of Nicodemus'?
My reasoning for believing the narrator of the Wanderer is Satan is becoming rather large but I shall try to outline most of the ideas now.
Firstly the use of the words ‘geara iu’ of line 22a is usually applied to centuries, or even millenia. In fact in 'Vainglory' it refers to the war in Heaven, just as propose it does here. The only time it refers to a shorter time span in extant litterature is in 'Boethius' and this time it looks back over at least 70 years. Thus if the anhaga was a warrior at the time of his lords destruction (as he says he was) then he must have been at least 15 years old, ot least 70 years ago. This would make him 85 years old at the absolute least. John Richardson comments 'This is clearly the shortest time we may reasonably see...' in Neophilologus 73, 1989. A human narrator who is AT THE VERY LEAST 85 years old is extremely unlikely.

Secondly the use of the phrase 'waddan wræcclastas' 'travel the path of the exile', which is only used by Satan in extant literature.

The lines 66-9 also suggest Satan:-
'Wita sceal geþyldig,
ne sceal no to hatheort ne to hrædwyrde,
ne to wac wiga ne to wanhydig, ,
ne to forht ne to fægen, ne to feohgifre
ne næfre gielpes to georn, ær he geare cunne.'

A wise man must be patient, He must never be too impulsive
nor too hasty of speech, nor too weak a warrior
nor too reckless nor too fearful, nor too cheerful,
nor too greedy for goods, nor ever too eager for boasts,
before he sees clearly

See also lines 89-90 'deorce lif deope' meaning 'dark life deeply' or even 'heinous, sinister life'

Lines 3-4, 24, 46-47 and lines 56-57 all deal with the wanderer being at sea but never describes a boat. 7 lines from a poem of only 115 lines is far more than sufficient to be termed significant. It is in fact one of the few reapeted themes of the text.
Reading the Wanderer', you will notice that there is no reference to a boat at all. Sea imagery is synonymous with the devil even in seafaring nations. See for example Оλίγον бιά ξύλον Αιδ′ έρύκЄι’ ‘He keeps Hades at bay with a thin piece of wood. A.D. Horgan ‘The Structure of The Seafarer’, Review of English Studies, 30, 1979 pg46 Also, the phrase at line 71a 'gifre ond grædig' eager and unsated' is in the Seafarer (and is often linked with Satan).

The need for reconcilliation at the end of the piece also mirrors Christ and Satan "Some must needs wander through all lands, sowing
dissension in the tribes of men throughout the earth. But I must
suffer all things, in the pangs of flame, sick and sorrowful,
lamenting here my lost possessions, which once I owned, while
still my home was in the heavens. Will the Eternal grant us ever
again a home and dwelling in the heavenly kingdom, as He did of
old?" lines 269-278

Does anyone have any comments or suggestions as to what else I should look at? Does this examination seem plausible to anyone? Does anyone know of any Latin texts of the same period that characterises Satan this way? Please help.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this.