Many scholars think of the seafarer's narration of his experiences as an exemplum, used to make a moral point and to persuade his hearers of the truth of his words. It has been proposed that this poem demonstrates the fundamental Anglo-Saxon belief that life is shaped by fate. In "The Search for Anglo-Saxon Paganism", 1975, Eric Stanley pointed out that Henry Sweet’s "Sketch of the History of Anglo-Saxon Poetry" in W. C. Hazlitt’s edition of "Warton’s History of English Poetry", 1871, expresses a typical 19th century pre-occupation with “fatalism” in the Old English elegies. Another understanding was offered in the "Cambridge Old English Reader", namely that the poem is essentially concerned to state: "Let us (good Christians, that is) remind ourselves where our true home lies and concentrate on getting there"