362 Study Questions: "The Dream of the Rood." (Norton Anthology)
Vocabulary: manuscript, Vercelli Manuscript, personification, prosopopoeia, kenning, hlaford, thegn, fameshame culture, alliterative verse
Character Identifications: the dreamer, the Rood, Christ
Abbreviations: MS (Manuscript)
Introduction Questions:
1. What is a rood? [Consult a dictionary if you need to.]
2. The only manuscript copy of "The Dream of the Rood" was found in what unusual location?
3. The only other partial copy is found on what object in Dumfriesshire, Scotland?
Reading Questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What does the narrator of "The Dream of the Rood" state he will speak in the opening lines?
As the speaker stares at the gold and gems, what begins to pour from the cross's right side?
What change takes place to the "clothing and color" that decorates the cross?
Who or what tells the dreamer the story of the cross in his dream?
What does the cross want to do when it first sees Christ approaching and again when "the Warrior
embraced him"--but stops when he realizes he "dared not....against God's word?"
6. After stating this, what does the cross say it wanted to do (and could easily have done) to all the foes of
Christ?
7. What command does the cross give the Dreamer?
8. How does the dreamer's emotional attitude change toward the cross by the last paragraph of the poem?
Lecture Questions:
1. What do the five gems on the "triumph-tree" probably represent in Christian iconography?
2. In medieval theology, what is the significance of the fact the poem's speaker says he was afraid when he
first saw blood on the cross?
3. In medieval legends, who discovered the true cross after it had been hidden away and buried?
4. What technique did this person use to force those hiding the cross to reveal its location?
5. The account of how "all creation wept" at the death of Christ recalls what Old Norse deity and his death?
6. The bit about the cross being taken out and shot full of arrows recalls the martyrdom of what Catholic
saint?
Passage Identifications:
A: It seemed to me I saw a most rare tree reach high aloft, wound in light, brightest of beams. All that beacon
was covered with godl, gems stood fair where it met the ground, five were above the crosspiece.... This was
surely no felon's gallows. Wonderful was the triumph-tree, and I stained with sins.
B: "Then I saw the Lord of mankind hasten with stout heart, for he would climb upon me. I dared not bow or
break against God's word when I saw earth's surface tremble I might have felled all foes, but I stood fast. Then
the young Hero stripped himself--that was God almighty--strong and stouthearted. He climbed on the high
gallows, bold in the sight of many."
C:"They pierced me with dark nails: the wounds are seen on me, open gashes of hatred. Nor did I dare harm any
of them. They mocked us both together. I was all wet with blood, drenched from the side of that Man after he
had sent forth his spirit."
Food for thought:
The images of Christ on the cross from the early medieval period around 1180. It comes from Treviso in
Northern Italy, and it is typical of the Christ-images appearing before the Franciscan movement. Note the stern
expression and the rigid, immobile body language. (It looks like Christ is going to hop off the cross at any
moment and unload a can of celestial butt-whipping.) What is the early medieval artist trying to suggest about
the nature of Christ?
Contrast that image above with an image of Christ appearing below. This one comes from the later medieval
period after the Franciscan movement. Note the emphasis on human anatomy, the frailty and "feminine"
weakness of the Christ figure. What is this late medieval artist trying to convey about the nature of Christ? How
does this change in artistic depiction match the change in medieval culture from the early centuries toward the
later centuries?
Which imagery is most appropriate for the Christ-figure appearing in The Dream of the Rood?