According to the Oxford English Dictionary, elegy means a song of lament, in particular a funeral song or a lament for the dead. They were popular forms in Anglo-Saxon and Middle English poetry. Elegies gave peacemakers a voice when they faced the difficulties of living with men of immense power. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay An elegy is about losing something and how much I grieve over its consequences. "The Wife's Lament" was one of the first elegies. A reader can feel the sadness and pain that the wife felt. When an elegy hits you deeply, you connect more to the story and character as a result of it. Being isolated is the worst fear for her and it is difficult for her to face it. She states, “Concealing their thoughts, that man's relatives hatched a plot to separate us so that the two of us would live more unhappily and farther from each other in this wide world” (6-9). The wife has a husband who has turned his back on her, and she feels alone, without friends and without protection: "This is why my heart hurts to find that man suitable for me, tough in fortune, sad with a hidden soul." her state of mind thinking of murder" (8). This poem, however, allows the reader to ask many questions about what happened to her husband and her tribe: "First of all my lord went away from his people here through the storm - the rough sea" (4). He discusses how he keeps himself safe as he writes his lament, which demonstrates immense courage and determination: he even hides in a grove in a cave under an oak tree. This elegy it also shows how much pain and torture the peacemakers had to go through. They married men not for love and respect but for power and silence. Women were second-class citizens and took on the role of peacekeepers. lovers and, above all, wives and mothers. Women were entrusted to men who could ensure them a rich and fortunate life. Sometimes they acquired wealth in marriage. Men were very protective of their women, as they were towards their husbands. Men made decisions for women. Elegies allow readers to explore the minds of these “peace weavers” and truly know what they had to endure. This woman faced a hostile tribe and had to sever ties with her family and move to a new land with no one she knew. This wife is a hero because she has to face everything alone, facing the harsh consequences. This poem focuses on the experience of a marginalized woman who defines her predicament in a melodramatic poetic soliloquy interspersed with notable emotional language. Another example of a peace weaver who had a lot of pressure on her was Hildeburh. She was the daughter of a Danish king, who married the Jute king, Finn. At first she is a happy queen. She is “deprived of her loved ones at the shield game, of her son and brother” (121). Her marriage to Finn, a member of a hostile tribe, costs her him, her son and her brother. He lets go of his passivity and tries to assume his role as a peacemaker. Hildeburh shows her disgust with the social norm when she takes complete control in her elegy. Even though we don't hear her voice, she brings up the symbol of peace and points out how they may not be able to create peace through hostility. Cries with songs or "geomrode giddum". Some may say that Hildeburh has not fulfilled her role as a peace weaver, however she shows her power when she orders the burning of the bodies. The elegy in "Beowulf" was used by.