Dream of the Rood Flashcards
courage
(‘with great zeal/courage’ occurs several times throughout)
2021
it was not always heroic just an ordinary tree - everyone can have courage to be heroic
‘I was hewn down from the edge of the forest’
‘I saw the lord of mankind hurry with great courage because he wished to climb up on me’
(not beat up Christ of gospel, he is brave along with the cross)
‘I did not dare to bend or break against the Lord’s word’
Paul Tillich asserted that a genuine symbol participates in the reality to which it points
examine the cross as a symbol of the Redeemer and the redeemed
2017
‘all those fair by eternal decree beheld the angel of the lord there’ (those saved by predestination gathered at cross)
‘it first began to bleed on the right side’
cross bleeding like Jesus did from his five wounds (spear in side = 5th)
common trope that bleeding wounds like rubies
Mitchell remarked on the central importance of the DoR ‘for understanding the resolution of competing cultures which was the presiding concern of the Christian Anglo Saxons’
to what extent does the poem itself bear witness to competing cultures
2019
‘strong enemies seized me there, made me there int a spectacle for themselves’
public executions were an enjoyable day out
discuss the duality of the cross and mankind
theological problem:
how can he tremble and suffer because God is omnipotent - can’t be vulnerable as that is imperfect
Christ is supposed to be fully man and fully God but AS split Christ in two for poetic purposes
‘they mocked us both together’
active cross/passive lord mirrors active god and passive son
example of litotes
‘he himself rested, worn out after that great struggle’
rest = death
understatement
‘he rested there with a small company’
he was all alone - AS sarcasm
‘somebody buried us in a deep pit’
somebody = impersonal figure of action used in OE to replace the passive construction ‘we were’
adds to the sense of isolation
what is the poet good and bad at
good at writing narrative that creates visual impression/emotional connotation
bad at laying out argument
‘now I command you my dear warrior that you go tell people of this vision, reveal in words that it is (a) wondrous tree which almighty God suffered on for mankind’s many sins’
‘listen, the prince of glory, honored me above the trees pf the forest, just as he almighty God honored his mother Mary before all people, above all womankind’
common to have preaching description at the end - same in the Seafarer
it gives it its poetical temperature - if you cut out all the preaching you miss the aesthetic that was appreciated by an AS audience
‘almighty God will come into this world to seek out mankind on judgement day to judge each one as he will have earned for himself in this transitory life’
‘no one there can be afraid because of that word the Lord will say’
‘he will ask in front of the multitude where the man may be who would taste bitter death for the Lord’s name’
Message of the Sheep and Goats parable
‘no one there need be terrified who previously carries the best of beacons in his breast’
final paradox = death v salvation
need to be afraid on judgement day but not if you embraced meaning of the cross
carries the best of beacons in his breast
neat ambiguity including the physicality of wearing a cross and as a token bearing it within you as a symbol of what it means
what is the significance of the section that talks about Judgement day and not being terrified if you have held the best of beacons in your breast
the events of the death of the Cross and Christ is followed by preaching where the poetic temperature drops into more of a prose style
cross’ speech itself is like an instrument of salvation - guiding people to have faith in and carry God within them in order to be saved
MAKE SURE U TALK ABOUT THIS - ITS THE MAIN AESTHETIC OF THE POEM
what is the main aesthetic style of the poem
preaching
solace and consolation
idea that pain will pass = similar to Deor but with no refrain just the lines
‘Once I became the cruellest of tortures, Most hateful to all nations, till the time I opened the right way of life for men’
source of pain until he became complicit in allowing humanity to be removed of its original sin.
solace in the idea of the an afterlife in eternity with God
solace in worldly riches
‘decorated me with gold and silver’ - ‘worthily adorned’
similar to AS allusion of burials with riches
despair as poor companion - unwavering loyalty and duty to his lord pushes him through turmoil and despair
idea of the transience of life
‘I wait each day for when the cross of God… may fetch me from this transitory life and carry me to where there is great bliss and joy in heaven’
the solace that comes in the life after death is a great comfort to many of the bereaved in AS society – think B and pushing bodies out to sea covered in riches
what do we gain by seeing the DoR as an elegy
provides solace for the audience that they are not alone in pain
what does the poem tell us of the social priorities of AS life
priorities of unwavering heroic loyalty of a retainer to their lord and the need to stand firm in support during battle
didactic purpose - all should have the unwavering loyalty of the cross
what literary technique does the poet apply to the cross
prosopopoeia
suggests an inherent need for a retainer to share the story of one’s lord implying a sense of heroic duty in the lord retainer relationship
restless symbol speaks directly to the narrator
define eschatology
the part of theology concerned with ‘the four last things: death, judgement, heaven, and hell
navis crucis (cross ship)
the concept that the cross carries the saved to their salvation
‘I saw that eager beacon change as to garments and colours’
alternates between rough wooden object stained with blood and this ornate bejeweled cross
how does the cross portray itself
as a heroic retainer serving its lord
what are there metaphorical allusions to
the concept of exile
‘warriors left me stood spattered with moisture’
important theme in AS poetry with cultural as well as biblical allusions
how can the poem be seen in terms of its context of placement within the Vercelli Manuscript
see it as having devotional/eschatological themes and praising the aesthetic lifestyle which may have bearing on how we should interpret it e.g. didactically to have faith in God and prepare ourselves for judgement day
the Vercelli text also contains 23 prose homilies and 6 devotional poems
what is the cross
a vehicle that carries humanity to salvation (metaphorically speaking)
what dispute does the duality of the cross with Christ carry
iconological dispute about Christ as one nature or divided nature
poem plays a riddling game with its audience in terms of having a straightforward meaning about the crucifixion and then a second hidden meaning about the debate and the nature of Christ
what does Christine Fell say about transience and quote from DoR to go with it
ephemeralness of earthly lord retainer relationship is seen with the
“poet longing for heaven because the friends he has lost have found new and imperishable relationships”
quote from text = his friends “now live in heaven with the high father”
rood waiting to be “fetched from this transitory life”
stronger relationship in spiritual realm/helplessness in lord retainer relationship on earth
lack of agency and self-sufficiency without a lord to serve once Christ has passed and been removed from the rood
Marius Koelink on prosopopoeia
the anthropomorphizing of the cross “goes beyond making him a person - he is made a warrior”
Quote from text =
“I did not dare to bend or break”
“I had to stand firm”
no other choice but to serve one’s lord - duty that should not be questioned
how do the rood’s decorative jewels link to AS culture
Jaqueline Condon = “treasure was another crucial aspect of the relationship between lord and thane in the pagan heroic culture and gift giving was a means for a lord to honor a valued subordinate”
Katherine O’Keefe = these riches are not merely decorative but symbolic of the Rood’s relationship with Christ
Text = adorned me with gold and silver
ennobled by its garments
what is the didactic opening of the DoR
“Listen, I want to tell the best of dreams”
later speech includes “I heard that it, best of trees, spoke, began to speak these words”
what does the rood say about faith
“I opened up for them the right way of life”
passing on the message quote
“Now I command you my dear warrior that you tell people of this vision, reveal in words that it is the tree of glory which almighty God suffered on for mankind’s many sins and Adam’s deeds of old”
