The significance of the rood in ‘The Dream of the Rood’

‘The Dream of the Rood’ is one of the significant poems of the Anglo-Saxon period. Among the old English poems, ‘The Dream of the Rood’ is very significant for various reasons. It is a religious poem. Though it is a religious poem, we can find social and historical elements of the Anglo-Saxon period. The poem is composed based on a dream. 

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‘The Dream of the Rood’ is written by an anonymous writer. We still do not know that when this poem was written. Perhaps, it was composed in the 7th or 8th century. Scholars have found two names, but there are differences in their opinions. We can find that the speaker in this poem is an old man. He has a firm belief in his religion. He loves his God and this passion and emotion are expressed in this poem.

At the beginning of the poem, the speaker talks about a dream. The speaker says that it is the best dream of his life. In his dream, he has seen a rood or cross made of wood. At the beginning of the poem, we can find a description of the rood. The rood is very beautiful and it is decorated with gold and jewels. In the ancient Roman Empire, the criminals were killed on the cross. The speaker thinks that this rood is made for a good person. Though it seems very nice, the speaker feels the agony of the rood. In his dream, he has seen that suddenly the rood has started to talk with him. We know that in the real world, it is not possible. It is a miracle. There is also mysticism. It is an interesting dream and also a mystic dream. From the beginning to the end, we can find that a mystic element has been used in this poem. However, it is not clear for us that whether the poet believed in mysticism or not.

When the poem was composed, at that time, England was ruled by the Anglo-Saxon. During that period, Christianity just arrived in England. So, we can find Christian elements in this poem. This dream is actually about the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, which is very important for Christians. It is significant for Christians because Jesus Christ always tried to guide people. He sacrificed his life for his followers and others, but at the end of the day, he was crucified.

If we read the Bible then we can find that Jesus Christ had to suffer a lot. Even before death, he did not get any peace. Jesus Christ was pierced with nails, mocked and tortured. Though he suffered a lot, he talked about humanity. He also forgave his oppressors. In this poem, we can also find that the poet talks about Anglo-Saxon heroism. In the Anglo-Saxon period, there was no political stability in England. There was a lack of good rulers and often England was attacked by the outsiders. Even there were several groups in England and they had no mutual relationship. For this reason, there needed good soldiers and good soldiers had respect in the society.  Heroism was very important for them. Before the arrival of Christianity, people followed the pagan religion in the Anglo-Saxon period. Besides religion, the idea of Anglo-Saxon heroism is also introduced in ‘The Dream of The Rood’ poem.

We can see that the poet tried to portray Jesus Christ as a strong fighter who faced the world with courage. Jesus Christ forgave the people who crucified him and showed his greatness, but instead of showing his kind and gentle nature, the poet was more interested in showing him as a fierce warrior. Jesus Christ was not a warrior but a prophet, but he faced his enemies with great courage. He faced them in front of all the people, which made him a great warrior as well. In the Anglo-Saxon period, the quality of heroism was considered very high. Normally, by courage, we mean physical strength but here the poet introduced a different kind of courage that does not involve the strength of body but the strength of heart. The poet gave more importance to mental strength than physical strength.

The poet showed that Jesus Christ was not a coward and he was not afraid of anything. He was the son of God, and by the grace of God, he was very powerful. Hence, he faced his enemies in a public place and fought them. This shows his mental strength and defeated his enemies. This is the message the poet repeatedly gave his readers.

The Rood or Cross is very important. It has great significance. Since Jesus Christ was crucified, a cross was the symbol of Christianity. This cross was used to convert people to Christianity in England, and we heard of the story of many big crosses in museums across England. However, the poet mentioned another aspect of the cross that helps people to think. He tried to say that the cross feels sorry for Jesus Christ. The way Jesus Christ suffered at the hand of the people, the cross also suffered. The cross suffered because Jesus Christ was the best of all human beings and it has the blood of Christ. It was his misfortune that Jesus Christ was nailed to him and killed. The Cross has great significance and is a symbol of Christianity.

The poet beautifully described scenes of battle. The last few moments of Jesus Christ had no fighting. The Jewish people decided that they would not let Christ live anymore and they would murder him together. It was a tragic event, but the poet presented it in a manner of war. He portrayed Jesus Christ as a fierce warrior who was not afraid of anyone and his enemies were bad people. This eternal battle between good and evil was one of the main themes of the poem.

Any war involves bloodshed and the group that sheds more blood becomes the winner. It means the party that loses more soldiers gets defeated in the war. However, the poet spoke the opposite in the poem. Here, it was Jesus Christ whose blood was shed. His enemies did not suffer. In this logic, it was his enemies that won, but the poet clearly said that Jesus Christ won the battle despite shedding his blood. It was a new thought and a new way of expression. In fact, ‘The Dream of the Rood’ was an Old English Poem, but its psychological treatment was equal to that of the modern age and it amuses the reader.

We know that according to the Bible, God sent Jesus Christ to bring back human beings from sin and badness. Some people did not like this at that time, and they considered Jesus Christ as their enemy. Because of it, they got into more sin, but Jesus brought them to the good path. He never gave up the idea to support people. He fought against the sin but never rejected the sinners. He tried to defeat it and bring the sinners to the path of God. 

The poet wants this thing. He wants to leave the bad path and come to the path of God. He has used this dream and this poem as an inspiration. By this poem, he is trying to give this message to everyone that they must follow the good path. We should follow Jesus Christ. If we can do it then we will get salvation in this life and the life after death.

It will be wrong to consider ‘The Dream of the Rood’ as a religious poem only. It has some historical elements that help us to understand the history of Anglo-Saxon England. Those days, there was no stability in the country and because of this, warriors and soldiers had a lot of importance among people. Also, Christianity started to become popular in England. The pagan religion that was dominant before the arrival of Christianity was still influential among some people. Thus, the Jesus Christ that we can see in this poem was not actually a Christian prophet but had some pagan elements too.

Poems like these have valuable elements when it comes to the social history of England. We can get an idea about the social attitude about life and religion from ‘The Dream of the Rood’. The poet has become old and hardly any of his relatives or family members are still alive. It perhaps shows that because of fighting and instability most people die early.