30 pages • 1 hour read
AnonymousThe Dream of the Rood
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1996A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Coexistence of Pre-Christian and Christian Values
While the unknown author or authors of “Dream of the Rood” may not have consciously planned to unite “pagan” and Christian value systems in the poem, the coexistence of these different strands forms an important theme. In “Dream of the Rood,” it is evident that pre-Christian and Christian epistemologies not only coexisted for a while, but that Christian epistemology itself borrowed and transmuted many symbols from “pagan” culture.
The rood is a perfect symbol of the intermingling of Christian and pre-Christian value systems. It is studded with gems, bathed in light, upright, like a great warrior wearing armor of gold. It is akin to the axis mundi or the Tree of Life, with angels attending to it, like birds flocking around the tree’s branches. At the same time, the rood is also streaked in blood and sweat, wrapped in bandages. So strange is this seemingly contradictory sight to the speaker that he is “afeared for its fearful beauty” (Line 21a). Significantly, the rood shows its wounds to the speaker only when the speaker begins to unfavorably compare his own “shabby,” human state with the tree’s perfect splendor. The rood reassures the speaker that it too is wounded.
It then recounts its history and nature to the speaker, framing the story of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection as a heroic triumph. Christ the warrior falls in battle, while the rood, his commander, is injured by the foe, its flesh pierced by nails and gashed by lashings. Ultimately, the rood is thrown in a pit along with the other gallows-trees, but is then fished out by Christ’s “thanes” and mounted in gold and silver. The description of the rood as bleeding, sweating, and wounded links it with flesh, the body of Christ and of human beings, while once again speaking to the heroic feats of “pagan” warrior culture. On the other hand, its resurrected present as a beacon, a perfect cross-tree bathed in light and enfolded in gems, represents the spirit. In the poem’s early Christian mysticism informed by “pagan” values, flesh and spirit coexist. In the figure of the rood, the Christian ideals of grace and salvation, and “pagan” ideals of victory through valor and sacrifice, are united.
The poem also shows a continuity between pre-Christian European culture and Western Christianity. In the Bible, Christ was crucified on the hill of Golgotha. That particular image can be traced to the image of the world tree, or the Tree of Life on a hill across various world mythologies. The world tree becomes transmuted into the symbol of the cross in Christianity. Christ chooses to confront death to take on the sins of humanity, echoing earlier mythologies of gods and heroes who brave the underworld and then triumphantly return to life during their quests. “Dream of the Rood,” created in the early days of Christian Anglo-Saxon culture, thus reflects the historical transformations taking place in Western religious culture at the time of the poem’s composition.
The Promise of the Afterlife
One of the key themes of “Dream of the Rood” is the promise of the afterlife. While the first half of the poem tells the story of Christ’s crucifixion and triumph, the second half contains a tonal shift. From Line 103, the speaking rood turns its attention to the second coming of Christ, an event prophesized in biblical scripture. At the end of the world, Christ will return to Earth to take account of the deeds of all human beings. For the rest of the poem, the speaker assumes the tone of a religious preacher, telling the audience about the glories of the afterlife.
Mortal life is presented as transient and lonely, such as when the speaker notes that he is “lonely planted / [his] own host scanty” (Lines 122-123). Later, the speaker observes that though he had many friends once, they have since left the earthly plane to join God in heaven. On Earth, one’s friends part ways or die. In contrast, heaven is presented as eternal companionship in the presence of God, “where the captain’s crew / are seated for the cookout” (Lines 140-141a). Free from mortality and strife, the afterlife is filled with an abundance of good souls and God’s grace. It is never lonely. The motif of loneliness ties into the poem’s opening lines, where the speaker refers to other human beings as “chatterers” (Line 3). There is an undertone of alienation in his phrasing, as if he already feels a difference between his contemplative state and the busy world of others. The afterlife then offers the appeal of being with like-minded souls.
The emphasis on the afterlife is also important to show people the rewards of following the path of the rood, or Christianity itself. The promise of an afterlife in God’s presence solves the problem of mortality for believers. In Christianity, the possibility of ascending into eternal life is made even more accessible by Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection-in-the-flesh. Additionally, the hope of an afterlife makes bearing the pains of everyday living bearable. The poem also contains references to the Harrowing of Hell and Judgment Day. In Christian theology, the Harrowing of Hell refers to an event during the three-day period between Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. In some interpretations, Christ goes to either hell or another realm to free the souls of sinners.
In “Dream of the Rood,” Line 149 refers to “all those who weathered the burning,” which can be read as souls taken by Christ during the Harrowing of Hell. Alternatively, it may refer to souls who survive Judgment Day, the day Christ will return to take account of the deeds of people. While the references to Judgment Day carry a warning note—in Lines 110-114 the rood describes it as a fearful event—the vision of the afterlife is ultimately optimistic in the poem. The rood specifies that good Christians will be able to survive Judgment Day, and the portrayal of God’s table at the poem’s end is abundant, showing that many people will make it into Heaven.
The Hope of Transformation
The “Dream of the Rood” is ultimately a tale of transformation. In the poem, supposedly antithetical concepts such as defeat and triumph, trauma and healing, death and life are often yoked together in a single image to show the potential of transformation. The poem is thus preoccupied with the possibility of transcendence and renewal through faith.
The figure of the rood embodies the hope of transformation. When the speaker notes that, in contrast with the tree’s perfection, he is “splattered with sin / impaled on [his] imperfections” (Lines 13-14), he presents himself as someone dissatisfied with his current state. The rood reassures him by revealing its own past scars and traumas. Since the rood houses both perfection and wounds, the potential for transformation is introduced. The rood shares its own story of transformation, recounting how it began as a tree and was forced to become a cross for a crucifixion—its first, physical transformation—followed by how it suffered while Christ suffered, and was later abandoned in a pit before being rescued and exalted. Its present gem-covered radiance has now transformed it from an object of death into a symbol of hope—its spiritual transformation.
The poem also uses the figure of Christ to explore the hope of transformation. Christ knows a painful crucifixion awaits him, yet he mounts the cross willingly. Christ, “the player of fortune” (Line 67a), surrenders to fulfilling the Divine Plan, with his defeat and death ultimately transformed into a victory through which he asserts his divinity and saves mankind. The poem thus suggests that, even in the depths of suffering and humiliation, one can gain a victory and transform an apparent defeat into something desirable, so long as one surrenders to God’s will and follows the path of faith.
The speaker, moved by the story of Christ’s sacrifice and divine transformation, then undergoes a transformation of his own: He now vows to follow the Christian path and is filled with hope and gratitude in place of his former shame and dissatisfaction. His former sinfulness and state of mortal loneliness on Earth contrast with the sense of renewal and optimism he now feels as a believer, with The Promise of the Afterlife offering him a vision of succor and unending companionship. All three of the poem’s central figures—the rood, Christ, and the speaker—are thus united through the power of transformation through faith.
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By Anonymous
