Some Observations on Old English Metaphor

Here are some random thoughts that are not entirely substantiated.

The poem Widsith (a poem about the scop [bard] Widsith which recites a list of ancient Germanic tribes and kings) begins with this line:

Widsið maðolade,         wordhord onleac

Widsith spoke,      he unlocked his wordhord

The interesting word here is the kenning "wordhord", which means exactly what it sounds like: a hoard of words.  Just like a treasure chest might be the wealth of a lord, the wordhord is the wealth of a poet.  In the poem, Widsith will freely give from his wordhord to his listeners, delighting them with tales and stories from times past.  The image is, I believe, similar to a lord giving out treasure to his loyal retainers (an extremely important part of Anglo-Saxon society).  The key idea is generosity and a willingness to distribute one's wealth.  This could be contrasted with the image of Beowulf at the end of the poem bearing his name where he is compared to a dragon that hoards its gold.  Hoarding one's resources and depriving one's fellows is bad, being free with one's resources is good.

Now, contrast this general principle with that found in the Old English poem The Wanderer.  The nameless wanderer says that 

Ic to soþe wat 
þæt biþ in eorle         indryhten þeaw, 
þæt he his ferðlocan         fæste binde, 
healde his hordcofan,         hycge swa he wille.

I know it truly

that it is in men a noble virtue,

that he his spirit-chest hold tightly,

hold his treasure-chamber, think as he will.

The wanderer is saying that a noble man keeps his thoughts to himself and is able to think however he likes.  I don't think its too much of stretch to conflate "ferthlocan" with "wordhord" (the metaphor seems to be pretty similar), in which case the two poems might be saying something different.  Does the scop necessarily lose something by so frequently unlocking his wordhord, or is the wanderer wrong in trying to hold his thoughts and words so tightly?

I know that I am oversimplifying this right now, but there might be something to it on which I could write in the future.