ABSTRACT Decades of analysis of The Wife’s Lament based on a presumed, underlying narrative have produced interpretations that are contradictory and competing. As a lyric poem, The Wife’s Lament is more profitably approached through its non-narrative elements, especially metaphor and intertextuality. Two major metaphors control The 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.

中文翻译：

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《妻子的悲歌》中的抒情方式与隐喻

摘要 数十年来，基于假定的潜在叙事对《妻子的悲歌》进行的分析产生了相互矛盾和相互竞争的解释。作为一首抒情诗，《妻子的悲歌》通过其非叙事元素，尤其是隐喻和互文性，更有利可图。两个主要的隐喻控制着《妻子的悲歌》：“妻子是流放的家臣”——目前没有争议——和“妻子是坟墓之外的先知”。后一个比喻得到了古弗里斯兰语的口头平行和诗意埃达的性格类似物的支持。