Dream of the Rood

The poem, “Dream of the Rood”, tells the story of a dream about the crucification of Christ being told by the roods perspective. The story begins with the poets dream of a beautiful tree “brought into the sky, be-wound in light, the brightest of beams” (5–6), which symbolized the rood, or cross. “Then the best of wood said in words:” (24–27), this indicates the shift from the poet having the dream to the personification of the cross. “They shamed us both together. I was be-splattered with blood, sluicing out from the man’s side, after launching forth his soul”(46–49), forced to be the instrument of Christs’ death, the cross retells the story of the crucifixion and its own suffering along with Christ. The cross speaks to the poet and asks to spread this word to all men that despite the suffering and death Christ has faced, he rose to power as a help to men. The rood ends his story by reassuring that “there will be no need to be afraid there at that moment” (117) when speaking to Christ. The poet strongly reflects on this dream making his hope for life to seek the victorious tree for “he redeemed us and gave us life,
a heavenly home” (147–48).

The use of this language allowed the poet to better speak to the audience. At the time this was written, the theme of war, conquest, and power were ongoing.

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