Ubi Sunt Qui Ante Nos Fueront? – Transience in Old English literature Anonymous College

The ‘ubi sunt’ topos is a powerful Christian homiletic motif which poses the question “where are those who went before us?”. The motif functions in a similar way to the Horatian emphasis on ‘eheu fugaces’, stating that everything is destined to decay. Thus, inherently it alludes to the ephemerality or transience of earthly life and material concerns. “The life expectancy of the Anglo-Saxon male [was] 32 years [and]…the female [was] 30.5 years” and so, life itself was innately short-lived during the epoch. Therefore, it can be construed that the impetus placed on the afterlife and the promise of an everlasting heaven was integral to sating their anxiety of death. Old English elegies were often concerned with reflections on death, loss and isolation inspired by this anxiety. Greenfield suggests that “some [are united in their] awareness of the transitory nature of earthly splendour, joy and security” – the exact issues contemplated through the application of the ‘ubi sunt’ motif.

Sciacca posits that one of the key sources of the ‘ubi sunt’ passages in Anglo-Saxon literature is Synonyma by Isidore of Sevilla. Isidore asks “Dic ubi sunt reges? Ubi principes? Ubi imperatores?” (meaning ‘where are the kings, the chieftains, the...