The poem starts with the speaker telling us about a dream he had. In this dream, he sees a beautiful tree, or the ‘Rood’ (which means ‘Cross’ in Old English), covered in gold and jewels. But he also sees it stained with blood.
Then the Rood starts to speak. It tells the story of its own past. Long ago, it was just a tree in a forest. It was cut down and made into a cross. The Rood explains how it was forced to be the instrument of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. It describes the sorrow of holding Jesus on his back and how it wanted to bend and break to save him but couldn’t. It felt both honored to support Jesus in his suffering and sad to be part of such a painful event.
After Jesus’s death, the Rood explains how it was buried but then dug up and decorated with gold and silver. People now honor and worship it because of its connection to Jesus’s sacrifice.
Towards the end of the poem, the speaker wakes up from his dream. He feels hopeful and inspired. He is full of longing to be with Christ and the Rood, seeing them as symbols of salvation and hope. He ends by praying for the Rood’s support on his journey to a better life and afterlife. To read the translation of this poem visit Full Text of The Dream of the Rood.
Themes and Symbols in The Dream of the Rood:
Themes:
- Sacrifice and Redemption: The poem talks a lot about Jesus’s sacrifice and how it brings hope and salvation to people.
- Suffering and Glory: It shows that through suffering, like what Jesus and the Rood went through, comes honor and respect.
- Christian Faith: The poem is about strong Christian beliefs and the idea of being faithful to God.
- Fusion of Cultures: It mixes old English warrior culture with new Christian ideas, showing a big change in how people thought and believed.
Symbols:
- The Rood (Cross): The Rood is the main symbol. It represents both pain, as it was used in the crucifixion, and hope, as it’s a sign of Jesus’s victory over death.
- Blood and Gold: Blood on the Rood shows Jesus’s suffering, and gold represents the glory and honor that comes after.
- The Dream: The dream itself is a symbol. It’s a way to connect the real world with the spiritual world and to show the speaker’s inner thoughts and hopes.
- Tree: The Rood was once a tree, which can symbolize growth, life, and the natural world, all important in the change from Paganism to Christianity.