PRE2 The Dream of the Rood Commentary

Key Features of The Dream of the Rood

- Replicates structure of Christian sermons: preacher reads story and then explains the meaning

- Drawing on riddle genre

- Rooted in language and idiom of heroic poetry by presenting Christ as warrior

- Cross assumes role of the poet through narration

- Collapsing time frames together (crucification/cross' story and original sin brought together)

- Spacial deixis created by contrast between here (earth and suffering) and there (heaven and everlasting bliss)

Plot summary?

- Opens with dreamer discussing their vision of the cross in the middle of the night

- Describes cross as beautiful but then begins to bleed (nightmarish distortion)

- Cross then describes its experience of the Crucifixion and aftermath as Christ is buried

- The Cross then links this moment to the present (commands dreamer to pass story on), the past (links back to original sin) and the future (discusses Judgement day)

- Dreamer is then compelled on spiritual journey and discusses how they will be fetched by Christ to be brought to heaven on Judgement Day

Use of variation to describe the decorations on the tree, idea of red jewels could link to hardened blood, Cross almost anthropomorphised as decorated warrior: 'wynnum scinan, gegyred mid...

golde; gimmas hæfdon, bewrigen weorðlice (shinng joy, adorned with gold, had jewels, covered worthily)

Transitoriness of Earth emphasised: 'on þyssum

lænan life' (this transitory life)

Mitchell and Robinson in 'The Dream of the Rood' from A Guide to Old English (2012) on the poet's use of prosopopoeia and how it unites Christ as passive/active: 'the poet uses it to portray a cross which is the passive, plangent sufferer in the...

crucifixion, while Christ is left to be active and heroic'

Use of anaphora (homiletic tone) at the conclusion of the text where Dreamer describes how Christ will fetch them on Judgment day and bring them to heaven, sense of progressing towards climactic conclusion: 'þær is...

blis mycel... þær is Dryhtnes folc... þær is singal blis' (where bliss is great... where the Lord's people are... where bliss is everlasting)

Heaven becoming heroic destination, idea of hall joys and community as they are 'geseted

to symle' (set to feast), use of alliteration to emphasise (wundeon on wuldre 'lived in glory)

Christ as a heroic leader in the Harrowing of Hell at the conclusion of the text, emphasised with adjectives at start of line: 'mihtig and spedig , þa...

he mid manigeo com' (mighty and successful, when he with the multitude came)

Conclusion of text emphasising heaven as final destination, with Christianity providing structure to orient the chaos of life upon Earth: 'ælmihtig God, þær his...

eðel wæs' (Almighty God, to where his homeland (poetic word) was)

Home in heaven both a physical place and a community (word choices that indicate this?)

'heofonlicne ham' (heavenly home) and idea of a community of 'folc' (people)

Passive verb choices and discussion of future events complicate reading of the concluding passage of the poem as one of action/progression: discussing how Christ will...

'gefetige' (fetch) and 'gebringe' (bring) the dreamer to Heaven

Asking who would be willing to be a saint: 'se ðe for Dryhtnes...

naman deaðes wolde' (who was willing to take death in the Lord's name)

Dreamer demonstrating spiritual readiness from start of text:

'syðþan reordberend...

reste wunedon' (after the speech-bearers dwelt in bed)

Dreamer acknowledging their sin in contrast to the angelic tree who is stained with gold/gems: 'ic synnum...

fah' (I sin stained)

Significance of 'gimmas' (gems)

- Decorative church objects

- Symbolise christ's wounds (blood - both divine and human)

- Nightmarish blend and switch between one and the other

- Dreamer unpicking veiled vision, comes to understand the symbolic significance of these 'gimmas'

Motif of bleeding/liquid throughout poem? (could link to tears/weeping, affective piety, form of baptism/spiritual, link to birth/wounds becoming birth canal)

- 'swætan on þa swiðran healfe' (bleeding on the right half)

- wilumhit wæs mid wætan bestemed,

beswyled mid swates gange (sometimes it was with moisture soaked, drenched with blood flow)

- After Christ's crucifixion describes act of the 3 crosses weeping as distinguished from the humans who didn't stay (Hwæðere we ðær greotende gode hwile 'nevertheless we were weeping there a good while)

Potential significance of missing half line at line 76?

- Could just be a slip of the eye

- However, if intentional, could reflect the gap in time (hundreds of years) between the Cross being buried, and its revival now as a speaker with its understanding of its iconic status

- Focuses on own fate and skips over Christ's, parallel between Christ's resurrection and Cross being buried/dug up again

Idea that Christ's crucifxion has provided salvation: 'rihtne

gerymde (cleared a correct way)

Now is proud of being the Cross, picked out especially above other wood in forest 'swylce swa he his modor...

eac, Marian sylfe' (just as his mother also, Mary herself)

Chain of command as Cross now passes narrative on and asks dreamer to share it, poem itself is method through which progress towards heaven: 'Nu ic þe hate...

hæleð min se leofa (Now I command you, my beloved warrior)

Meaning of 'onlysde'?

Redeemed

Shifting of tenses as Cross enters anagogical time, also links to idea that this is a dream, wherein time makes less logical sense: 'Iu ic wæs...

geworden wita heardost' (long ago I became the cruellest of punishments)

Cross almost begins to side line Christ in the narrative as it understands its own signifcance, positiong self as a saint (link to Saints' lives throughout Vercelli Book): 'þæt ic bealuwara...

weorc gebiden hæbbe' (that I have endured evil ones' deeds)

Dreamer experiencing both fear and admiration at vision: 'forht ic wæs for þære...

fægran gesyhðe (afraid I was of that fair vision)'

Dreamer's use of the word 'hleoðrode' to describe Cross' act of speech?

Means make a noise (riddling/enigmatic, resistant to explaining that the tree is speaking with words)

Dreamer's meditation as 'ic þær licgende...

lange hwile' (I lay there a long while)

Nature warped against its will: 'astyred of

stefne minum (I was removed from my roots)'

Differs from biblical account as fiends carry cross instead of Christ: 'bæron me þær...

beornas on eaxlum (Men carried me on their shoulders)' and use of abstract 'they' bringing the story more into dialogue with the general secular poetic tradition/pares down account by removing/generalising the actors to focus on the cross and Christ

Repetition of ? to indicate Cross' loyalty pulled in two directions as they want to both protect and listen to Christ?

ne dorste (I dared not)

Link to Ruthwell Cross

- Scratchings in the ruthwell cross as wounds

- Description of Cross as 'painfully oppressed with sorrows' inscribed on Cross

What is prosopopoeia?

when objects speak, (Cross gives account using first person pronouns 'ic' and 'me')

Dreamer led on an active spiritual journey: afysed on

forðwege (impelled on the way forward)

Leaving earthly troop to become part of heavenly troop, loneliness no longer dangerous but now linked to spiritual enlightenment: 'gewiton of...

worulde dreamum' (departed from world's joys)

Implications of verb 'sceawode' used by the dreamer

To gaze on something that is wondrous, idea of revelation

Which phrase is repeated throughout the poem that links Chris and Dreamer and is an example of Anglo-Saxon understatement?

Christ: reste he ðær mæte weorode (rested he there with small troop)

Dreamer: 'þær ic ana wæs mæte werede' (I was alone there with a small troop)

Examples of Cross describing self in the third person?

- 'on gealgan heanne' (on the despised gallows)

- 'Crist wæs on rode' (Christ was on the Cross)

- þæt hit is wuldres beam (that this is the glorious tree)

Pun and linking of trees, anagogical time: 'Adomes ealdgewyrhtum...

deað he þær byrigde' (for Adam's ancient deeds/death he [Christ] there tasted') - Adam sinned by eating apple from tree, Christ redeemed sin by dying on tree

Time collapses as Cross shifts to discussing resurrection: Hwæðere eft...

Dryhten aras (however afterwards the Lord arose)

Link to idea of four-fold exegesis

- Literal (past time)

- Allegorical (two historical moments that match each other brought together and parallel found)

- Moral (how it relates to present time christian and indivdual salvation)

- Anagogical (how it relates to eternal time, day of judgement)

Cross relating dream to daily practise: þe him ær in breostum...

bereð beacna selest (who him before in breast bears the best of signs)

Link to Macrobius' dream theory from 'Dream of Scipo'

Sonium - dream something obscure/veiled and needs to be unlocked for you/translated

Visum - you know it is a true vision if it reveals your future in a divine way

Oraculum - in your dream, have a dream guide (Cross fulfils this role)

Peter Orton in 'The Technique of Object-Personifcation in The Dream of the Rood and a comparison with Old English Riddles' on links between The Dream of the Rood and the Riddle genre: 'But whereas the Riddles challenge the reader to pierce the surface-meaning to discover the...

underlying base-object, in the Dream it is the significance of the object which is veiled rather than its actual identity’

Peter Orton in 'The Technique of Object-Personifcation in The Dream of the Rood and a comparison with Old English Riddles' on links between The Dream of the Rood and the Riddle genre: ‘It is as if the cross… were reinterpreting an...

earlier set of experiences... in rather the same way that a riddle might be reread after its solving'

Use of variation to address Christ as both physical and metaphorical (53b-54a), Christ becoming object: 'Wealdendes hrǣw...

scīrne scīman' (the Ruler's corpse, the shining radiance)

Which phrase is repeated to connect Dreamer, Christ and Cross across the poem?

elne micle (with great zeal)

Christ climbing on Cross and position as hero: 'Frēan mancynnes efstan...

elne myċle þæt hē mē wolde on ġestīgan ('the Lord of mankind hastened with great zeal because he intented to climb on me)

Cross falling: 'hnāg iċ hwæðre þām secgum tō handa...

ēaðmōd, elne myċle (but I bowed to the hands of men, humble, with great zeal)'

Dreamer praying at the end of the poem: 'Ġebæd iċ mē þā tō þan...

bēame blīðe mōde, elne myċle (I prayed for myself to that cross with a happy spirit, with great zeal)'

Double structure of poem?

Framed by dream and Cross' speech occurs in the middle: The Dreamer's Vision, Cross' story, The Cross' Teaching, The Dreamer's Response

Emotional response of the Cross: 'Sāre ic wæs...

mid sorgum gedrēfed' (I was painfully oppressed with sorrows)

Dreamer experiences blend of fear and awe, emphasis upon sight objectifies the Cross: 'ic wæs for...

þǣre fægran gesyhðe (I was frightened by that beautiful sight)'

Example of wordplay on light/wood from start of the poem?

'bēama beorhtost' (the brightest of beams)

Link to Exeter Book Riddle 53?

Tree described as 'wriþen ofer wunda' (wracked all over with wounds), has been solved as a battering ram or Cross, warping of nature

Link to Exeter Book Riddle 73?

Natural object taken from Earth and warped into a weapon: onwendan mine wisan, wegedon mec of earde (changed my ways, shook me from the Earth)

Deceptive interchange between decorative and bleeding cross: 'wendan wædum...

and bleom' (began to change garment and colour)

Christ has agency and is understood through heroic language

- 'strang and stiðmōd' (strong and resolute) and 'mōdig' (brave)

- Idea of 'on Godes rice' (on God's kingdom) linking Heaven to ideas of power/conquest

- Idea of his death being like a rest after battle, paradoxically becomes a victory

Meaning of 'hiht'?

hope

Strong bond between Christ and Cross (part of one body, maternal/homosocial bond): 'Bifode ic þā mē...

se beorn ymbclypte' (I trembled when the man embraced me)

Euphemism to describe Christ being wounded, cross as meaning shield/blending as one body/similar diversionary tactics as used in riddles: Þurhdrifan hi me mid deorcan...

næglum...

opene inwidhlemmas (pierced me with dark nails... open malicious wounds)

Emphasis on moments of blurred time, particularly in use of alliteration here when discussing Christ's Harrowing of Hell :'mid bledum mid...

blisse, þam þe þær bryne þolodan' (with glories and with bliss, those who there burning suffered)

Alliteration on line 48 to emphasise Christ and cross as one: Bysmeredon hīe unc būtū ætgædere...

Eall iċ wæs mid blōde bestēmed (Mocked he and I together. All I was with blood covered)

Use of 'dolg'

Means wounds but with sense of scars

Use of 'guman' and 'beorn' to describe Christ?

Could mean 'hero' but most likely means 'man' (stressing Christ's humanity)

Use of chiasmus to form a stylistic Cross: Rod wæs ic...

aræred; ahof ic ricne Cyning (Cross was I become; lifted I the powerful King)

Darkness covering the corpse, word 'clouds' structurally surrounding 'the shining radiance' (scirne sciman) of Christ's body and link to biblical account (response of nature, anagogical level as becomes universally significant event): bewrigen mid...

wolcnum (covered with clouds) AND wann under wolcnum (dark under clouds)

- Alliteration with 'weop eal gesceaft' (weep all creation, pathetic fallacy emphasised)

Emotions causing physical pain: Sare ic wæs mid...

sorgum gedrefed (painfully I was with sorrow afflicted)

Example of Anglo-Saxon understatement and euphemism for Christ's death

limwerigne (weary in limb)

Finally enthusiastically bends to Earth upon Christ's death, link to priest bowing at Eucharist, bowing before splendour of Christ, acting as though ability to move/not move is intentional: hnag ic hwæðre þam...

secgum to handa (bent I however did to the hands of men)

eaxlegespanne (hapax legomena)

shoulder-span

ærgewin (hapax legomena)

ancient hostility

bealuwara (hapax legomena)

dweller in iniquity

feorgbold (hapax legomena)

soul-dwelling

inwidhlemmas (hapax legomena)

malicious wound

langunghwila (hapax legomena)

time of longing

limwerigne (hapax legomena)

weary of limb

Narrator beginning to unravel a layer of meaning beneath the gold: 'ic þurh þæt gold...

ongytan meahte/earmra ærgewin (I through that gold could percieve/wretched one, ancient strife)

Effect of hypermetric lines within the poem

- Links to idea that Cross is 'fuse' (eager) and has a lot of information to relay to the speaker

- Allows space for extensive use of variation, ornamentation of language can be linked to decoration on Cross

- Compressed and vague opening lines unpacked in greater detail, forces you as reader to linger in the same way the dreamer is lingering over Cross

- Links to idea of blood flow and moisture, lines pouring over typical poetic syntax structure