THE DREAM OF THE ROOD

“The Dream of the Rood” is the most beautiful of Old English religious poems. The radiant vision, the simple devout wonder of the dreamer, the pathos of the crucifixion as told by the Cross are unmarred by the set lifeless phrases so common in Old English religious verse. The authorship of the poem has been much discussed. Before the poem was discovered in the Vercelli Book, some lines were found and deciphered on an old stone cross at Ruthwell, near Dumfries. These lines, which correspond to certain portions of the poem, were ascribed to Caedmon, but the arguments which supported this theory have been discredited. A good case has been made out for regarding Cynewulf as the author, though there is no certainty in the matter. In style and mood “The Dream of the Rood” offers many resemblances to the known poems of Cynewulf, and “Elene” shows his interest in the cross as a subject for poetry.

(R. K. Gordon)

THE DREAM OF THE ROOD

Lo, I will tell the best of dreams

that came to me dreaming in the midst of night

when living men had sought their rest.

It seemed that I saw that noblest of trees

5 aloft lifted wound with light,

brightest of wood; all that beacon

was flooded with gold, and gems stood

fair on the earth beneath; there were five more

up on the crossbeams. The Lord's angels all gazed upon it

10 fair throughout creation -- that was no felon's gallows -

but there beheld it holy spirits,

men upon earth, and all this noble creation.

Wondrous was the victory-tree, and I stained with sins,

wounded with wrong. I saw the tree of glory

15 clad with honour, shining joyful,

girded with gold; and noble gems

had worthily clasped their Maker's tree.

Yet through that gold I could see afar

the struggle of poor ones, when it first began

20 to sweat on the right side. I was all troubled with sorrows,

fearful was I for the fair sights; I saw that eager beacon

change its raiment and colour; now it was bedewed, wet,

stained with blood poured out; now wound with treasure.

Yet I, lying there a long while,

25 gazed heart-repentant on the Healer's tree,

until I heard that it spoke aloud;

it uttered words, that best of woods:

“It was long ago, I yet remember,

that I was hewn down at the wood's end

30 torn from my place. They took me there, strong foes,

they set me up as a gazing stock, bade me lift on high their felons.

Men bore me on their shoulders, till on hill they set me,

many foes fastened me there. Then I saw mankind's Lord

swiftly come with courage, for He willed to mount on me.

35 Then dared I not, against the Lord's word,

bend or break, when I saw

the earth trembling, I might there

have felled all my foes, but I stood fast.

* * *

Then He stripped Himself, the young Hero, that was God Almighty,

40 strong and firm-hearted He mounted the mean gibbet;

noble-hearted in the sight of many He would set free mankind.

I shook when the Prince clasped me, but I durst not bow to earth,

fall to the ground, but must needs stand fast.

A rood I was raised aloft, I lifted the mighty King.

45 Lord of Heaven, I durst not bend.

They drove me through with dark nails, on me the marks are plain,

wide wounds of hate. I durst not harm any of them.

They mocked us both together. I was all wet with blood

poured from the Man's side when He had sent forth His soul.

* * *

50 There on the hill I underwent

many bitter things. I saw the God of Hosts

sorely stretched out. Darkness there

had wrapped in clouds the Ruler's Body,

its fair radiance. A shadow went forth,

55 was under clouds. All creation wept,

bewailed the King's death, Christ on the rood.

But there came from afar eager nobles

to Him all alone; I beheld all that.

Sore was I troubled with sorrows, but I bent down to the hands of the men

60 humbly, with hearty will. There they took Almighty God,

lifted Him down from the heavy pain. They left me standing

wet with blood; I was all wounded with shafts.

They laid him down, limb-weary; they stood at His body's head;

they gazed on Him, Heaven's Lord, and He rested there awhile,

65 tired from the great strife. They began to make His grave

in the sights of His foes. they carved it from the bright stone,

they laid in it the Lord of Hosts. They began to sing a sorrow-song

alone in the evening tide. Then they went away,

weary away from the great crowd. With a few He rested there.

70 We were there grieving a good while;

we stood in our place. A cry went up

from the heroes there. The body grew cold,

the fair soul-house. Then someone began

to fell us to earth; terrible was that wyrd!

75 They dug for us a deep hole; yet there the Lord's thanes,

His friends, found me

and set me then in gold and silver.

Now mayest thou hear, my loved hero,

how I have born the bale of evils

80 of sore sorrows. Now is the time come

that men over earth, and all this noble creation,

shall give me honour far and wide.

They pray by this bright sign; on me God's Son

suffered once; for that I am shining now,

85 lifted high under heaven; and I can heal

any of those who bear me reverence.

Once was I the greatest of torments,

most hateful to men, until I made wide

they way of life to speech-bearers.

90 Lo, He has honoured me, the Prince of glory,

over all trees of the wood, He the Keeper of Heaven,

even as Almighty God, for mankind's sake

honoured His Mother, Mary herself,

the most worthy of all women.

95 Now I bid thee, my beloved one,

tell of this sight to other men;

unveil in words that this wood is glorious

since God Almighty suffered on it

for the many sins of all mankind,

100 and for Adam's deed done long ago.

There He tasted death, yet the Lord arose

with great might, so to help men.

Then He mounted to Heaven; thither shall He come

into this middle-earth to seek mankind

105 on Doomsday, the Lord Himself,

Almighty God, and His angels with Him.

Then will He give, He who wields doom forever,

judgment to each one, as He earned it before

in the swift-passing days of life.

110 Nor will anyone be unafraid

of the dread words that the Wielder will say.

Then shall He ask before those many men

which of them, for the Lord's name, willed to taste

of bitter death, as He did on the Cross-beam.

115 But they shall then fear, and think a little

what they could say to Christ in answer.

Nor need anyone be then afraid

who bears in his breast the best of beacons;

but through the rood each shall seek a kingdom,

120 every soul come from earth-ways

who with the Wielder will to dwell.”

I prayed then to the beam, blithe in mood,

with hearty will, when I was alone

and few near me. Then was my heart's thought

125 urged on its far way, oft it had borne

times of weary longing. I have hope of life now,

that I shall go seek the victory tree;

more often now than all other men

I honour it well. My will is bent to it,

130 strong in my heart, and my hope of safety

goes straight to the cross. I have now but few

friends on earth, but they are gone hence

from the world's joys, seeking the King of glory.

They live now in Heaven with the High Father;

135 they dwell in light, and I lingering

long for that day when the Lord's rood

which here on earth I once gazed upon

will come to fetch me from this fleeting life,

and bring me there where is great bliss,

140 joy in heaven, where the Lord's fold

sit feasting in bliss unending,

and sat me there where I may forever

dwell in glory, safe with the holy ones,

and taste their blessedness. May the Lord be my friend

145 who once suffered here on earth

on the gallows tree for men's sins.

He set us free and gave us life,

a heavenly home. Hope was made new

with blossoms and with bliss where He bore burning pain.

150 The Son was victory-fast in His far-going,

mighty and enriched when He came with many,

a spirit-army, into God's kingdom,

The Almighty Lone-Wielder was bliss to the angels

and all holy ones who ere in heaven

155 dwelt in glory when their Ruler came,

Almighty God, where His homeland was.

From Word-Hoard, translated by Margaret Williams, London 1946, pp. 206-212.

Opening lines in the original Old English:

Hwćt! Ic swefna cyst secgan wylle,

hwćt me gemćtte to midre nihte,

syđţan reordberend reste wunedon!

ţuhte me ţćt ic gesawe syllicre treow

5 on lyft lćdan, leohte bewunden,

beama beorhtost. Eall ţćt beacen wćs

begoten mid golde. Gimmas stodon

fćgere ćt foldan sceatum, swylce ţćr fife wćron

uppe on ţam eaxlegespanne. Beheoldon ţćr engel dryhtnes ealle,

10 fćgere ţurh forđgesceaft. Ne wćs đćr huru fracodes gealga,

ac hine ţćr beheoldon halige gastas,

men ofer moldan, ond eall ţeos mćre gesceaft.

Syllic wćs se sigebeam, ond ic synnum fah,

forwunded mid wommum. Geseah ic wuldres treow,

15 wćdum geweorđode, wynnum scinan,

gegyred mid golde; gimmas hćfdon

bewrigene weorđlice wealdendes treow.

Hwćđre ic ţurh ţćt gold ongytan meahte

earmra ćrgewin, ţćt hit ćrest ongan

20 swćtan on ţa swiđran healfe. Eall ic wćs mid sorgum gedrefed,

forht ic wćs for ţćre fćgran gesyhđe. Geseah ic ţćt fuse beacen

wendan wćdum ond bleom; hwilum hit wćs mid wćtan bestemed,

beswyled mid swates gange, hwilum mid since gegyrwed.

Hwćđre ic ţćr licgende lange hwile

25 beheold hreowcearig hćlendes treow,

ođđćt ic gehyrde ţćt hit hleođrode.

Ongan ţa word sprecan wudu selesta:

"ţćt wćs geara iu, (ic ţćt gyta geman),

ţćt ic wćs aheawen holtes on ende,

30 astyred of stefne minum. Genaman me đćr strange feondas,

geworhton him ţćr to wćfersyne, heton me heora wergas hebban.

Bćron me đćr beornas on eaxlum, ođđćt hie me on beorg asetton,

gefćstnodon me ţćr feondas genoge. Geseah ic ţa frean mancynnes

efstan elne mycle ţćt he me wolde on gestigan.

The Ruthwell Cross:

The South Face

The South Face (which was probably originally the East face) emphasizes Christ's human form, with panels depicting His incarnation, His acts as a person, and His physical death. These scenes also revolve around “Mary” — the different forms Mary can take (as the mother of God, the humble prostitute, or one of the two worthy sisters).

At the bottom of this South Face is a Crucifixion scene, still barely discernible, though unfortunately not visible in this photo; it may have been added later, in the 9th century. (Some argue that the runic lines from “The Dream of the Rood” were added in the 9th century as well; perhaps there is a connection, as the poem tells of the Crucifixion.) Neither is visible the panel above it, a representation of the Annunciation, with Gabriel speaking to Mary the mother of Jesus. The remains of the Latin inscription reads only “INGRESSUS ANG” (“ANG”= “Angelus”), “the angel having entered.” Some early Christian calendars assigned the same date, March 25, to both the Crucifixion and the Annunciation, hence a possible reason for the conjunction of the two scenes. The panel above the Annunication has Christ healing a blind man (a good bit of the panel can be seen at the very bottom of both pictures above, especially the larger one). The remaining Latin inscription reads “+ ET PRAETERIENS VIDI[t hominem caecum] A NATIBITATE ET S[anavit eum ab infirmitate],” “+ And passing by He saw a man blind from birth, and He healed him from [his] infirmity.” These two detail shots show the representation of Mary Magdalene anointing the feet of Jesus. The Latin inscription on the border reads “+ A[ttulit alaba]STRUM UNGUENTI & STANS RETRO SECUS PEDES EIUS LACRIMIS COEPIT RIGARE PEDES EIUS & CAPILLIS CAPITIS SUI TERGEBAT,” “+ She brought an alabaster box of ointment and standing behind beside His feet she began to wash His feet with her tears, and she wiped [them] with the hairs of her head”. This text basically restates Luke 7:37-38. The two panels just below the head of the Cross offer first a representation of either the Visitation (the Virgin Mary's visit to her sister Elizabeth, then pregnant with John the Baptist) or of Martha and Mary. The Latin inscription is essentially obliterated, reduced to “M....M..I...R.” Howlett finds the reading of Martha Maria mr (read as merentes) dominnae (“Martha [and] Mary, meritorious ladies”) very satisfactory. Carol A. Farr builds on this reading, saying, “[T]he significance of Martha and Mary [as] women of high status who are meritorious in a Christian sense . . . would be especially relevant to the ongoing process of Christianization in Anglo-Saxon society”. To Farr, they are a pair comparable in their worthiness to Saints Paul and Anthony on the opposing North Face. Above the two women is an archer; it may signify the sharp warning words of preachers (as Jerome encouraged preachers to preach). Or it may signify the attacks on the Church by heretics, and be aiming at the Eagle (a symbol of Christ's resurrection) which is at the apex of the Cross. According to Howlett, the top piece of the Cross was put on backwards; the archer really should be aiming at the Eagle now found on the North Face. The crossbeam or transom itself is a 19th-century creation, so what is seen cannot be taken as an accurate depiction of what was originally there. In the centre of the cross is a triangle, a sign of the Trinity; on the left cross-beam is a fish, and on the right cross-beam is a winged serpent.

Rood: the cross of Christ (old use); also rood-tree, a crucifix, especially one placed on the rood-screen between the nave and choir in a church.

Lines: between asterisks correspond to the Ruthwell inscription.

Shafts: spears.

Bale: grief.

Middle-earth: this world.

Victory-fast: triumphant in his journey.

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The Dream of the Rood

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