Dream of The Rood
The Dream of the Rood The Dream of the Rood is part of the 10th century Vercelli Book, but the text itself is older. ... The Dream of the Rood is one of the earliest Christian poems in the corpus of Old English poetry and an intriguing example of the genre of dream poetry. ... The Dream of the Rood is the earliest English dream-vision. ... One of those is the idea of the Cross as a salvatory instrument before judgement In the poem, the scop describes that he was dreaming of a conversation with the wood of the Christian cross, the "rood" of the title. ... The poem concludes with the poets prayer to the Rood that he might enter into the band of Christs followers. ... " Instead of anything like what the original rood (or cross) would have been, this description makes the thing look like what to the Anglo-Saxons, especially when it is described as drenched with blood? The cross in the dream speaks: "It was long ago--I remember it still--that I was hewn down at the woods edge, taken from my stump. ... Its 135 leaves, written by a single scribe, contain next to a group of homilies 6 poetic texts, including The Dream of the Rood and two poems ascribed to Cynewulf, namely The Fates of the Apostles and Elene.