“Dream of the Rood” Response
The “Dream of the Rood” poem, written during the tenth century, illustrates the well-known story of Christ’s crucifixion and yet, adds a new perspective by retelling the occurrence from an unusual but unique point of view. This piece is told partially from the viewpoint of a man as he describes a dream he has had in which the cross, personified, retells the crucifixion from its perspective. This fresh take on the retelling of the crucifixion from an inanimate object uniquely reveals details of Christ’s death that are often not considered or realized by those familiar with the story of his death on the cross.
In this piece, the author portrays Christ, the living God, as a mighty, brave hero, reiterating the idea that this man should be feared because of his almighty power and yet willingly sacrifices his life to atone for the sins of mankind. The cross’s revelation that it “trembles” before Christ and yet “dare[s] not bow to the ground” nor “lie down” demonstrates this idea perfectly.
Furthermore, the powerful, descriptive diction in the poem leaves an impression on the audience even after the end of the piece. Therefore, it can be inferred piece was likely directed towards the Anglo-Saxon pagans by urging them to leave their pagan practices and convert to Christianity through relaying the idea that Christ suffered a brutal, violent death as retold by the apparatus he died on. In the author’s use of illustrative words like “cruelly”, “drenched”, and “bone-weary” the writer relays to the audience that Christ is a hero that is powerful and yet endures an incredible amount of brutal torture in order to “ransom mankind” from the consequences of sin. This idea would have likely struck an Anglo-Saxon pagan audience in firstly relating to them the concept that Christ is a mighty hero and also in forcing them to realize that Christ was brutally killed for their sins, which could have caused them to seek out the Christian faith and leave their pagan practices behind.
Overall, this piece introduces a series of unique ideas in retelling the story of Christ’s death predominantly from not a person but rather an object that is considered to be one of the central focuses of the crucifixion narrative. In doing so, the author is able to vividly relay this narrative in a new light, bringing a fresh perspective to a well-known story, while accomplishing his literary goal of being able to relay this narrative and capture the attention of both Christian and non-Christian individuals.
