OLD ENGLISH: The Dream of the Rood

Line 1a:

Hwæt

Interjection - lo! listen!

A characteristic opening for an Old English poem. Beowulf, Andreas, Fates of the Apostles, Juliana, and Vainglory, for example, all begin with this call to attention, which should probably be treated as outside the regular metre of the line. A suggested translation might be "Listen!" - an inheritance from an oral past? Acts as a rallying cry - look at how Dhavana Headley translates it to 'bro'.

Line 2b

hwæt

the manuscript reading of 'hæt', hat, makes no sense in context, and therefore 'hwæt' is the most generally accepted emendation. It forms the introduction to a clause forming a parallel object of 'secgan', (see Mitchell and Robinson p.159). Notice that several translations treat it anachronistically as if it were a relative pronoun, but Bradley translates it grammatically correctly. Though the emendation to þæt has been argued for by Scragg; this would be a relative construction with the neuter gender agreeing with swefn (see Scragg 1968).

Line 2a:

mē ġemǣtte

'came to me in a vision', i.e. I dreamed.

The impersonal construction takes dative of the person affected i.e., I dreamed. ġemǣtan is an impersonal verb with dative of person.

Lines 1-2:

swefna cyst secgan

in line 1 and the clause introduced by hwæt in line 2 are parallel objects of the verb secgan 'to tell the best of dreams, (to tell) what...'

Line 3a:

reordberend

(masculine nd-stem noun, nominative plural): reordberend, speech-bearer, man, person.

The word occurs also in Elene and Andreas (both found in the Vercelli MS) and several times in Christ (which offers a number of interesting parallels to this poem). In every case the context is Christian. The specific reference to humans as 'voice-bearers' has particular point in a poem that focuses on a speaking cross.

Line 4:

Þūhte mē þæt iċ ġesāwe syllicre trēow

This is similar to the vision of Constantine from the poem Elene. For a discussion of the symbolism of the vision see Raw, Barbara C., 'The Dream of the Rood and its connections with Early Christian Art', Medium Aevum 39 (1970), pp. 239-256, and also Raw, Barbara C., Anglo-Saxon crucifixion iconography and the art of the monastic revival (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990).

Line 4b:

syllicre

often said to be an absolute comparative ('exceedingly rare'), but some comparative meaning can also be implicit: 'a rarer tree (than all others)'

Line 5a:

on lyft lǣdan,

'lifted into the air'. The infinitive following gesawe has a passive sense.

Line 7a:

begoten

begotten (class 2 strong verb, past participle): begeotan, pour over, pour upon, anoint, infuse, flood (with), sprinkle

Notice the link suggested here between the symbolic gold and Christ's blood.

Line 7b:

stōdon

For the derived sense 'shine' see Bosworth and Toller's dictionary sense XII (of direction lit. & fig.). See also, Beowulf line 726, 'Him of eagum stod leoht unfæger', 'a horrible light stood forth (i.e. shone) from his eyes'. A similar use of stonden with jewels is found in the medieval poem Pearl line 113, section 5.

Line 8a:

æt foldan scēatum

If the phrase is taken to mean 'the earth's corners or quarters', then the image is of the four arms of the cross, each ending in a jewel stretching from horizon to horizon.

Line 8b:

fīfe

(cardinal number, neuter nominative plural): fif, five

The symbolism of the five jewels is of the five wounds of Christ (his hands, feet, and side).

Line 8a:

foldan scēatum

Either 'at the surface of the earth' (i.e. at the foot of the cross) or 'at the corners of the earth', the cross being seen as extending across the sky to four points on the horizon. Within this verse begins the first of several groups of hypermetric lines that appear throughout this poem. Obviously some special effect was achieved by the shifting from normal to hypermetric verses, but we cannot be sure what the effect was. The hypermetric verses seem to be systematic variations on regular verse-types, most of them being expanded A-verses. The effect of hypermetric verses was exclusively aural and not visual, sense the Anglo-Saxons wrote poetry continuously across the page from margin to margin just like prose and did not lineate their poems into seperate verses.

Line 9a:

eaxleġespanne

A unique compound although eaxlclaþ, 'shoulder-cloth', occurs once and eaxlgestealla 'shoulder-companion', occurs four times in poetry. Gespan(n) can mean 'a joining, yoke, clasp'. The precise sense of the compound remains uncertain. If eaxle can be used figuratively of the 'shoulders' (i.e. cross pieces) of the Cross, then the jewels are presumably positioned as in the Rupert Cross, but it is used elsewhere of human shoulders only.

Lines 9b-10a:

Behēoldon þǣr enġel Dryhtnes ealle

fæġere þurh forðġesceaft.

'All those fair by eternal decree gazed on the angel of the Lord (i.e. Christ or possibly the cross) there.' 'Those fair by eternal decree' are the halige gastas of line 11 -- the loyal angels who were predestined to remain in Heaven. Line 9b is long even for a hypermetric line and therefore has often been emended. But since it makes sense as it stands and none of the emendations is entirely satisfactory, the manuscript reading is retained.

The text keeps the MS reading un-emended. As this text stands the translation should read 'all those beautiful through eternity gazed there on the angel of the Lord.' Various emendations have been suggested for this line which is metrically difficult and also presents interpretative problems. Whether Christ (or the Cross) can be called an 'angel' has been disputed (see Bolton, 1968; Helder 1975; Pickford 1976; Boenig 1985).

Line 10a:

fæġere þurh forðġesceaf

Lit. forth + creation. It can mean simply 'the creation, world', 'the future' and hence have the sense here 'creatures endowed with beauty at their creation' or 'creatures beautiful throughout creation'. The reference is presumably to the angels, the halige gastas.

Line 11a:

hine

(personal pronoun, 3rd person masculine accusative singular): he, he, she, it; or reflexive, himself, etc

Refers to the nearest masculine antecedent, gealga 'the cross'.

Line 11b:

hāliġe gāstas

halige: (adjective, masculine nominative plural): halig, holy, saintly.

gastas (strong masculine noun, nominative plural): gast, spirit, soul, angel.

First to gaze upon the cross. Whole of creation is looking at the cross. Anagogial, universal. Stands outside human time.

Line 13a:

se siġebēam

se sigebeam: The sense 'tree of victory' clearly refers to Christ's victory over sin, death and Satan. However, it also carries the sense of 'tree which brings victory' as it did for Constantine: 'Mid þys beacne ðuon þam frecnan fære feond oferswiðesð,geletest lað werod.''With this symbol you will overpower your enemies at the fearsome assault, you will halt the hostile army.'Elene l.92b This compound is found also in Elene seven times. There is also the story in Bede of King Oswald's erection of a cross at 'Heofonfeld' before his battle against the pagans when, like Constantine, the smaller army was victorious. The wood of this cross was capable of performing miracles. A very large number of compounds formed with 'sige' exist, many of them used in religious contexts which refer to the victory over death/sin although they can also be used in the context of secular victory in battle.

Line 15a:

wǣdum

wædum (strong feminine noun, dative plural): wæd, clothing.

The normal OE sense of this word is 'clothing', often coupled with wiste, 'food'. The reference is puzzling. Earlier editors (see esp. Swanton's edition) have suggested it refers to either streamers or cords hung from the cross, the 'labarum' described by Eusebius which hung from military standards (see the Latin Hymn: Vexilla Regis where the Cross is adorned with royal purple), the covering which was put over the cross on Good Friday and removed on the Resurrection services of Easter Sunday, or that it is merely another way of describing the 'dress' of gold and jewels/water and blood. See Farina 1967, and Smith 1975 for further suggestions.

Line 15a:

wǣdum ġeweorðode

'adorned with garments'. 'Garments' is a poetic reference to the gold and jewelled adornments. In line 22 it refers to these and the blood covering the cross as well.

Line 17a:

bewriġene

bewrigene (class 1 strong verb, past participle): bewreon, cover, hide.

bewrigen: The form has been emended on the same basis as line 15 geweorðod. However, the inflection could be caused by an attraction to agreement with nominative plural masculine gimmas. The inflection does not cause a metrical problem.

Line 17b:

Wealdendes

wealdendes (masculine noun, genitive singular): wealdend, ruler, the Lord.

Wealdendes: The MS has wealdes. Although this produces reasonable sense, "tree of the forest", it leaves a verse of only three syllables and no comparable use of the genitive is found. Dickens and Ross suggested that the error could easily have arisen by haplography (omission of an identical letter sequence) if the word had previously been written with the nasal abbreviation i.e. wealdedes.

Line 19a:

earmra ǣrġewin ongan

earmra: of wretched ones

'ancient hostility of wrethced ones', i.e. those who crucified Christ. ǣrġewin and the following þæt clause are parallel objects of

earmra ærgewin: ærgewin is a unique compound and, there is disagreement over whether the phrase refers to the agony of those who were crucified or the hostility of those wretches who crucified Christ. For the first interpretation see lines 30b-33a and 87-88a which treat the cross generically, and 50-51. All these leave open the possibility that others had been crucified on the Cross before Christ, and allow the sense 'the agony once suffered by wretches' (see Crossley-Holland). In favour of the second interpretation, although l. 65a speaks of the crucifixion as 'ðam miclan gewinne', the sense of 'strife', 'hostility' is well established for gewinn and earm would be an appropriate adjective for sinful and deluded mankind rejecting Christ and salvation and ær suggests the long history of human sinfulness.

line 20a:

swǣtan

swætan: This is the only context in which the verb is translated as 'bleed', although the cognate noun swæt can refer to blood or sweat/moisture. The ambiguity of the verb captures the symbolism of the blood which represents the 'water of life', and in ll.22b-23a one has 'wætan... swates gange'.

Line 20a:

þā swīðran healfe

þa swiðran healfe: Traditionally, for symbolic reasons, Christ was pierced by the Centurion's spear on the right side (see, l.49a).

Line 20b:

sorgum

(strong feminine noun, dative plural): sorg, sorrow, pain.

In the manuscript this is written as 'surgum', but this has been generally emended by editors, as surgum is not recognized as an Old English word. Sargum, otherwise un-evidenced but clearly related to sargian has been suggested, but most editors currently select sorgum. Parallelism is then created with l.59a where sorgum is supplied from the reading of the Ruthwell Cross runes. Swanton compares the line with Judith 88a, 'swyðe mid sorgum gedrefed' a similar hypermetric line in a context of prayer.

Line 21b:

fūse

fuse (adjective, neuter accusative singular): fus, in a hurry, ready to go, eager, brave.

The meaning of this word is unclear in this context. The usual sense is 'ready, eager, hastening', especially towards death, but these do not make good sense when applied to the cross. Mitchell and Robinson gloss as 'shining, or brilliant' but offer no justification for this. It has been suggested that the use of fuse to describe the movement of the sun has caused the adjective to gain the sense of a different attribute of the sun, its brightness. Alternatively the strong connection between fuse and movement towards death may suggest some meaning of 'symbol of eagerly desired death'. None of the translations make very good sense of this verse. The word is used in its normal sense in l.57b and the verb afysed at 1.25a. Given the extent to which this poems echoes words and phrases to indicate significant parallels, the adjective may have been deliberately chosen to create the parallel between the Cross, the disciples, and the dreamer.

Line 22b:

mid wætan bestemed

In line 48b 'mid blode bestemed' and elsewhere similar phrases occur: e.g. Christ 1085b 'blode bistemed', also of the Cross; Andreas 1239b 'swate bestemed'. This looks like a poetic formula system and the verb is usually in the non-W.S. form with -e-. However, Dream of the Rood seems unusual in using a preposition rather than a dative/instrumental.

Line 23a:

gange

(strong masculine noun, dative singular): gang, going, passage, flow.

The word has an interesting range of meanings related to the sense of going, movement, or flowing. The idea of 'path' is strong and perhaps should be seen here as reflecting the sense of the Cross and crucifixion as creating a path for man through Christ's blood; see l.88b '... ic him lifes weg/rihtne gerymde.'

Line 25a:

behēold hrēowċeariġ

Hǣlendes trēow: The speaking cross is one of the most striking features of the poem. It has been compared with the technique of riddles where the object speaks for itself.

Line 27b:

wudu

(masculine u-stem noun, nominative singular): wudu, wood, forest.

This is the only place in the poem that the Cross is referred to as wudu, (though see note on line 91 for holmwudu). It is referred to as treow in the opening vision, and in line 146 gealgtreow; beam and beacen occur at the beginning and the end of the poem; rod occurs at line 44 for the first time and frequently from then on. Although legends of the origins of the Cross were probably known in Anglo-Saxon England, this poem treats the Cross as a natural tree.

Line 30b:

Ġenāman

(class 4 strong verb, past plural): geniman, take, take from, seize.

'-an' is a late spelling for -on', the indicative past plural termination. The exact phonetic value of the stressed vowel is uncertain. Standard OE would suggest either 'a' (from the etymological singular) or 'o' (from the etymological plural). Swanton argues that the inverted positioning of the verb underlines the violence experienced by the tree. However, this appears to be the unstressed position for the verb in verse.

Line 30b:

ðǣr

þær (adverb): þær, there

ðær: The adverb is repeated in line 31, 32 and 33. However the deictic force of the adverb is not quite clear since the place remains unspecified. Some translators have suggested that 'then' (i.e. there in time) is the sense intended.

Line 30b:

fēondas

(masculine nd-stem noun, nominative plural): feond, enemy, foe, the Devil.

feondas: Throughout the crucifixion those acting against Christ and the Cross remain unidentified, referred primarily by feond or beorn. This helps both to universalize the specific moment, prevent the sinful reader from distancing himself from Christ's torturers, and throw the active emphasis onto Christ and the Cross who become the subjects of the active verbs rather than the objects of the actions.

Line 31a:

ġeworhton him þǣr tō wǣfersȳne,

'they made (me) into a spectacle for themselves there'. This refers to the Romans' use of crosses for the public (and ignonimous) execution of felons.

Line 31a:

him

him is said to be an 'ethic dative', so for themselves, with respect to themselves and me has to be understood as the object.

Line 33a:

ġefæstnodon mē þǣr fēondas ġenōge

'Enemies enough (i.e. many enemies) secured me there'.

The first appearance of Christ, actively embracing his crucifixion. Note the titles of power used of Christ. They are more commonly used of God the Father rather than the Son. At no point in the poem does Christ speak, nor are his words reported by the Cross.

Line 34a:

elne mycle

For use of the instrumental see line 60a, 'eaðmod elne mycle', and line 123 'elne mycle'. This phrase is used first of Christ, then of the Cross, and finally of the Dreamer. Only in the first case is the normal sense of ellen, 'courage, strength, or vigour', appropriate. The parallelism of the three moments is clearly more important than the exact sense of the noun.

Line 34b:

þæt hē mē wolde on ġestīgan.

'(in) that he wanted to ascendd onto me', i.e. 'in his wish to ascend onto me'.

Line 35:

Þǣr iċ þā ne dorste ofer Dryhtnes word

The Cross's repeated expression of its reluctant obedience to its Lord's command is part of the characterization of the Cross as a retainer of a lord (Christ) who is being forced to go against its instincts and kill rather than protect its lord. Its ability to strike down the enemies but refusal to do so and prevent the crucifixion can be seen as a reflection of the agony in Gethsemane and is an element in the complex relationship of Christ and Cross.

Line 36b-37a:

þā iċ bifian ġeseah

eorðan scēatas.

'when I saw the surface of the earth tremble'. Matthew 27:51 says that the earth trembled at the crucifixion.

The trembling of the earth can be compared not only with the reaction of the earth to the Crucifixion but also with The Day of Judgment, see Christ ll. 881-882 'beofað middangeard, / hruse under hæleþum.'

37b:

Ealle

(adjective, masculine accusative plural): eall, all, each, every, entire, whole, universa

This is more probably an adjective agreeing with feondas than the adverb 'entirely, wholly'. It carries the alliterating stress of the b-verse, but see line 6b, and line 20b, where the adjective does not seem to carry alliterating stress (and therefore probably is unstressed).

Line 37b:

mihte

(preterite-present verb, past 1st person singular): magan, be able, can, may

mihte: might have

Lines 37b-38b:

Ealle iċ mihte

fēondas ġefyllan, hwæðre iċ fæste stōd.

'I was able to fell (i.e. could have felled) all the adversaries, but I stood fast.'

Line 39a:

Onġyrede hine þā ġeong hæleð

Compare the runic text. The compression of the verses into the single expression 'Almighty God prepared, stripped himself', although striking, loses the contrast of the human/divine in 'geong hæleð - God ælmihtig'. Notice that Christ is the subject of the verb and actively prepares himself. The exact meaning of 'ongier(w)an/ongyran' is uncertain in this context and translations vary. The idea of stripping for combat, a form of heroic nudity, is classical rather than Germanic. The Gospel accounts do not indicate that Christ was naked and he is rarely represented as naked or near-naked in Anglo-Saxon depictions.

Line 41a:

maniġra ġesyhðe,

manigra gesyhðe: the sight of many

Lines 42-43:

Bifode iċ þā mē se beorn ymbclypte. Ne dorste iċ hwæðre būgan tō eorðan,

This line repeats the alliterative collocation of 36 and is part of the complex framing of the statement about the heroic Christ by 35-38 and 42-43.

Line 44a:

Rōd

(strong feminine noun, nominative singular): rod, cross, crucifix.

The first use of the term rod. As many commentators have pointed out, the line is chiastic, i.e. has an AB:BA pattern, and thus mirrors its nature as a cross.

Line 46b:

On mē syndon þā dolg ġesīene

The shift into the present tense ties the image of the wounded cross intimately to the image of the risen Christ with the imprint of the nails on him. The vocabulary of this whole passage relates closely to that of Christ line 1107, and also to the torture of St Andrew, in Andreas, line 1394.

Line 47a:

inwidhlemmas.

(strong masculine noun, nominative plural): inwidhlemm, malicious wound.

The compound inwidhlemmas is unique to this poem. The concept of malice expressed by nið occurs in both the Christ and Andreas passages; hlemm and hlemman (and hlimman) occur elsewhere in OE, although infrequently, but seem to refer to noise - a crash, roar or the sound of a blow - rather than the result of the noise as noun appears to in this poem.

Line 48a:

unc būtū ætgædere

The use of dual pronoun, dual adjective and the adverb ætgædere puts enormous emphasis on the unity of Christ and Cross.

Line 49a:

begoten

(class 2 strong verb, past participle): begeotan, pour over, infuse.

'drenched'. Modifies ic in line 48.

Line 49b:

siððan hē hæfde his gāst onsended.

Note the active way in which Christ's death is expressed. This reflects the gospel account (see St. Matthew Ch.27) and is paralleled elsewhere in OE, e.g. Andreas 1327, 'þæt he on gealgan his gast onsende'; Elene 480 'on galgan his gast onsende'. Juliana has a similar expression for St Andrew in line 308, 'þæt he unsnytrum Andreas het / ahon haligne on heanne beam, / þæt he of galgan his gæst onsende / in wuldres wlite.'

Line 50a:

Feala

(adjective, indeclinable): fela, many.

'fela/feala' is indeclinable but takes a partitive genitive, i.e. 'wræðra wyrda', 'many cruel experiences'. For possible connection with line 19b as indicating that the cross was used for earlier crucifixions see note to that line.

Line 54a:

scīrne

(adjective, masculine accusative singular): scir, shining, resplendent.

scirne: The syntax and punctuation of these lines varies depending on the interpretation of 'forð eode'. There are three possibilities: a, assuming that eode is the past of the verb gan, gan with forð as an adverb; b, assuming that eode is the past of gan, forðgan as a prefixed verb; c, that this is the past of the verb 'for + ðeon', a contracted weak II verb, meaning 'to oppress'. Either of the first two possibilities fits the MS, which writes forð, eode as two separate words, since division of compounds into their separate elements is common in OE MSS. However, the third possibility cannot be ruled out on these grounds since a scribe at some point in the poem's copying history could have imposed this division on an earlier form which was not so divided. Of the first two possibilities the metre seems a little more regular if forð is treated as an unstressed prefix to the verb. Forþeon seems to be an otherwise un-evidenced compound of the verb but the base verb in various spellings, e.g. þeowan, and also with other prefixes is evidenced. The fact that it appears an unusual compound could be argued to account for an earlier scribal misinterpretation of it. The current punctuation has scarne scaman as a parallel object with Wealdendes hraw to bewrigen, 'darkness had covered with clouds the corpse of the Ruler, the shining radiance. Shadow, black beneath the clouds, advanced'. If forðeon is preferred, scirne sciman becomes its object and the semi-colon should follow hraw giving 'darkness had covered the Ruler's corpse with clouds; shadow overcame its bright radiance'. Parallels have been drawn by earlier editors with Andreas line 835, 'oðþaet dryhten forlet dagcandelle/ scire scinan. Sceadu sweðerodon, /wonn under wolcnum.'

Line 54a:

scīrne scīman

'the bright radiance' is in apposition with Wealdendes hrǣw.

Line 57a:

fūse

'eager ones'. In view of John 19:38-9, the eager ones would appear to be Joeseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, who came to claim the body of Jesus.

Line 59b:

þām secgum tō handa,

'to the hands of men'. Possessive. Dative.

This phrase, which may be translated as 'to the men's hands, shows possession expressed by the dative, which is characteristic of body parts.

Line 61a:

āhōfon hine of ðām hefian wīte.

This may be compared to Elene, line 481b, 'þa siððan was / of rode ahæfen rodera wealdend.' In fact this whole passage in Elene is worth comparing with the Dream of the Rood for the way in which Christ is characterized.

Line 62a:

stēame bedrifenne.

The phrase presents some difficulty semantically. The glossary gives the meanings of the verb which are found elsewhere. Possibly Dickens and Ross are right to compare the Old Norse driffin bloði, 'sprinkled with blood' to explain the apparent semantic shift of the verb here, but steam normally seems to refer to hot vapour (like breath) so that contextually the reference might be to the hot blood which gives off a vapour. The sense of the phrase, then, is not so much that the Cross stands soaked in blood/moisture, as it stands surrounded by the vapour rising from the hot blood with which it is soaked. The treatment of the Cross as the retainer of Christ, and the lord of the dreamer whom it addresses as 'hæleþ min se leofa,' would seem to create a naturally male personality.

Line 62b:

strǣlum

'with arrows'. The cross is referring to the hostile nails of line 46.

Line 63b:

ġestōdon him æt his līċes hēafdum;

'they positioned themselves at his body's head'. Dative plural hēafdum with singular meaning is an OE idiom.

Line 65a:

ġewinne

(strong neuter noun, dative singular): gewinn, strife, battle.

The semantic range of this word covers battle, fight, agony, toil; fruit, or gain from one's labors or struggle. Battle, agony, or victory would all make sense here, and the ambiguity is probably deliberate.

Line 66a:

banan

(weak masculine noun, genitive singular): bana, slayer.

banan 'of the slayer'. The cross refers to itself as Christ's slayer.

Line 69b:

mǣte weorode

'with little company'. Germanic understatement meaning 'alone'. So also in l. 24.

An instrumental phrase, mæte relates to the met- measure root, which normally means 'small or moderate'. However, in both uses in this poem the literal sense of 'with (a) small company' has clearly become, in context, 'alone' and one has a typical Old English form of understatement or litotes. As with the use at 34a, 60a, and 124a of the instrumental phrase elne mycle, the double use of mæte weorode seems intended to create a parallel between Christ waiting in the tomb for resurrection and the dreamer waiting for death and the Cross to raise him to heaven.

Line 70a:

wē

(personal pronoun, 1st person nominative plural): ic, I, me, myself

i.e. the three crosses.

Line 70b:

gode hwile

gode hwile: for a good while

Line 75b:

hwæðre mē þǣr Dryhtnes þeġnas,

Although there is no lacuna or disruption in the MS, there does appear to be disruption in the text. It is impossible to produce metrical regularity from what is there although the sense of what is left is acceptable, if a little abrupt. Most editors assume that a half-line is missing to complete 76, freondas gefrunon, although some editors, like Swanton, argue that single verse lines of this type may be acceptable variants in Old English verse (see Elene l. 518 and Maldon). It is possible that the corruption of this passage is greater than merely a missing half-line verse. Line 75 itself is awkward, as it stands as a single hypermetric verse whereas elsewhere, with the possible exception of line133, hypermetric verses occur in blocks. The topic of the finding and elevation of the True Cross could well have merited a rather more extensive treatment.

Line 76:

frēondas ġefrūnon

The second half of this line is lost, but the sense is clear: the cross was buried, and then many years later St. Helena recovered it and adorned it as a precious relic.

Lines 79a-80a:

þæt iċ bealuwara weorc ġebiden hæbbe,

sārra sorga.

'that I have suffered distress from dwellers in iniquity, from sore sorrows'. bealuwara and sorga are parallel genitives dependent on weorc.

This is a unique compound assumed to be from bealu, 'evil', and ware, 'inhabitant'. There have been suggestions for emendation and the metre does raise queries. Bruce Mitchell in Old English Syntax argues that bealuwara weorc and sarra sorga are parallel objects of gebiden hæbbe and this is an indication of the weakening of the case patterning of Old English.

Line 86b:

þāra þe him bið eġesa tō mē.

'of those in whom is fear of me'

Line 92a:

swylċe swā

in the same way, or just as

Line 93b:

for ealle menn

It is arguable whether this means 'in the sight of all men' or whether the force of the accusative rather than the dative with for is to give the sense 'on behalf of all men', as Swanton suggests.

Lines 97-98:

onwrēoh wordum þæt hit is wuldres bēam

se ðe ælmihtiġ God on þrōwode

The gender agreements here are worth noting: hit is not made to agree with beam which is masculine but se þe does agree in gender with beam. In its own clause se þe keeps the nominative case of beam although it is actually governed by on, i.e. 'that it is a tree of glory on which Almighty God suffered'. Possibly one should see hit as referring generally to the whole substance of the vision which shows that the Cross is a tree of glory.

Line 98:

se ðe ælmihtiġ God on þrōwode

'on which almighty God suffered'.

Line 100b:

ealdġewyrhtum.

ealdgewyrhtum (strong feminine noun, dative plural): ealdgewyrht, ancient deed, former action.

Swanton compares this word, which occurs elsewhere only in Beowulf 2657, with ærgewyrht, which occurs several times. However, only in Guthlac line 987 does it seem to refer to Adam's original sin. It more commonly refers to previous deeds which will gain the doer heaven or hell at Judgment. The use of the plural here is generic. The reference is clearly to the eating of the apple.

Line 101a:

byriġde

byrigde (class 1 weak verb, past 3rd person singular): byrgan, taste.

There is a clear parallelism between Christ mounting the Cross and Christ ascending into heaven. Christ is said to 'rule from the Cross' and iconographically it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish at first sight between a crucifixion and a judgment.

Line 103a:

āstāg,

There is a clear parallelism between Christ mounting the Cross and Christ ascending into heaven. Christ is said to 'rule from the Cross' and iconographically it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish at first sight between a crucifixion and a judgment.

Line 106b:

mid

mid: with him

Lines 107-109:

þæt hē þonne wile dēman, se āh dōmes ġeweald,

ānra ġehwylcum swā hē him ǣrur hēr

on þyssum lǣnum līfe ġeearnaþ.

'in that He who has power of judgemnet will wish to pass judgement then on each of those even as he shall have earned for himself while here in this transitory life'. ǣrur with the present (with future meaning) ġeearnaþ yields a future perfect in meaning. Similar to line 118 - ǣr ... bereð.

Line 109:

on þyssum lǣnum līfe

The transitory nature of this world is a common theme of Old English poetry. Collocations such as læne lif, læne tid occur frequently in prose and poetry.

Line 113b:

wolde

(anomalous verb, past 3rd person singular): willan, wish, be willing, desire, intend, will

The emendation of the MS 'þrowode' is quite clear. 'þro' has been erased and 'l' inserted between 'o' and 'd' to give 'wolde'.

Line 117b:

anforht

(adjective, masculine nominative singular): anforht, afraid.

The text has adopted the emendation 'anforht' for the MS 'unforht'. It is clear that the sense of the line makes the meaning 'unafraid' of unforht in 110 impossible here. An intensive sense of forht is needed. Whether emendation is necessary is less certain and many editors have kept the MS reading arguing that the prefix 'un-' occurs with this intensive sense elsewhere in OE (although the examples are few and tend to be unique examples of the words in question). 'un-' can also have the sense of 'bad', or 'worthless'.

Line 119a:

ðurh ðā rōde

This phrase is true in two senses: only through Christ's crucifixion is man redeemed and able to enter heaven and only to the extent that each Christian imitates Christ and 'takes up the cross' is he or she going to be acceptable to Christ at the Last Judgment and enter the Kingdom.

Line 120a:

eorðweġe

(strong masculine noun, dative singular): eorðweg, earthly way.

The word occurs twice in a number of other works of Old English. It means essentially 'earth' or 'terra', but it could be argued that the 'path' or way' element relates to the idea of life on earth as a journey or pilgrimage of the soul.

Lines 124-126

Wæs mōdsefa

āfȳsed on forðweġe; feala ealra ġebād

langunghwīla.

'(My) mind was inspired with longing for the way hence (to the next world), it has experienced in all many periods of longing (for the next life).

Line 125a:

on forðweġe

As a locution for death this occurs in a number of OE poems including the Wanderer. Its use twice in Exodus, lines 32 and 129, and refers to the actual journey of the Israelites, but this journey, of course, on the anagogical level of biblical exegesis symbolises the journey of the soul to heaven.

Line 126a:

langunghwīla

langunghwila (strong feminine noun, genitive plural): langunghwil, time of longing.

A unique compound, and indeed the only compound listed in dictionaries with 'langung' as a first element, although the simplex noun occurs in both poetry and prose. The compound's meaning ranges from longing, to desire, to weariness, to even grief. It is impossible to know whether 125b-126a is a reinforcement of 124b-125a or whether it is an explanation of the eagerness to depart.

Line 128:

āna oftor þonne ealle men,

The sense of this line would seem to refer to this vision which has put the dreamer in a unique position to resort to and honour the cross. Ana may refer back to mæte werede and forward to his statement of his friendless state.

Mē is willa tō ðām

myċel on mōde,

'The desire for that is intense in my heart.'

Line 130b:

mundbyrd

(strong feminine noun, nominative singular): mundbyrd, protection.

This noun, as well as its associated forms mundbyrdnes, mundbora, is widely used in OE both in religious and secular writings, poetry and prose. 'My protection is directed to the cross', i.e. the cross is my protector/patron or is my hope of protection. This seems to define the relationship of client and patron between dreamer and cross, and aligns the cross with God or Christ who are elsewhere seen as protectors or affording protection: see Judith ll. 2-3, Andreas l. 724a, and Juliana l. 156.

Line 133b:

him

This reflexive dative (with sōhton) need not be translated.

134b:

mid hēahfædere,

It is assumed that this is mid + dative singular, and that the reference must therefore be to God (the father). Ormulum uses 'Godd heh-faderr'. However, the more frequent use in OE is as a translation of patriarcha. It would, of course, make sense to speak of living in heaven with the patriarchs but one would expect a dative plural in that case

Lines 135b-138b:

iċ wēne mē

daga ġehwylċe hwænne mē Dryhtnes rōd

þe iċ hēr on eorðan ǣr scēawode

on þysson lǣnan līfe ġefetiġe

'I look forward each day to (the time) when the cross of the Lord... will fetch me.' The me in 1. 135 is reflexive and need not be translated.

Line 139:

ond mē þonne ġebringe þǣr is blis myċel,

As Swanton points out the repeated syntactic pattern here is typical of 'Latin homiletic rhetoric'. In line 141a, 'geseted to symle', the idea of the feast of heaven probably derives from the parable of the wedding feast (see St Matthew 22: 2-14; St Luke 15:16-24). However, it would also seem an image which fits naturally the cultural pattern of OE and the image of God as the Lord of retainers.

Line 144b:

Sī mē Dryhten frēond

'May the Lord be a friend to me.'

Line 146b:

for guman synnum.

'for men's sins'. Guman is a late gen. plural (for gumena).

Line 148b-149b:

Hiht wæs ġenīwadmid

blēdum ond mid blisse þām þe þǣr bryne þolodan.

This sentence refers to Christ's harrowing of hell when, following the crucifixion, he descended to the nether regions and rescued from the burning fires all good people who had died since the creation.

Line 150a:

Se Sunu

This is the only place in the poem where Christ is referred to in this way. At l.83 he is called bearn godes, but the absolute title of 'the Son' would seem to identify him precisely as the second person of the Trinity, as in the Latin in nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti. The other titles in this passage anwealda ælmihtig, wealdend, ælmihtig god are titles of power equally appropriate to God the Father. And the vocabulary sigorfæst, mihtig ond spedig and the conception of the siðfæt and Christ as leading an army of spirits gasta weorode harkens back to the concept of Christ on the cross as the heroic warrior. His battle with Satan is complete and he leads his army (now rescued) back to his and their true home, or eðel.