The Textual Condition of The Dream of the Rood lines 75–7

2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 312-315
Author(s):  
Leonard Neidorf
Keyword(s):  
Dream Of The Rood

“WÆDUM GEWEORDOD” IN “THE DREAM OF THE ROOD”

1967 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-6
Author(s):  
D. P. FARINA
Keyword(s):  
Dream Of The Rood

The structure of ‘The Dream of the Rood’

1976 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Howlett
Keyword(s):  
Dream Of The Rood

The uncarpentered world of Old English poetry

1991 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 65-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Earl R. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
Oral Tradition ◽  
English Poetry ◽  
Military Conflict ◽  
Old English Poetry ◽  
Funeral Rites ◽  
Dream Of The Rood ◽  
The Past ◽  
State Dependent ◽  
Military Security

Cultural archaism is often thought of as a natural concomitant of oral tradition, and by extension, of a literature that is influenced by oral tradition. In the case of Old English poetry, archaism might include residual pagan religious beliefs and practices, such as the funeral rites inBeowulfor the use of runes for sortilege, and certain outmoded aspects of social organization such as the idea of a state dependent upon thecomitatusfor military security. An example often cited is the adaptation of heroic terminology and detail to Christian topics. The compositional method in Cædmon's ‘Hymn’, for instance, is regarded by many scholars as an adaptation of panegyric epithets to the praise of God, although N. F. Blake has noted that heroic epithets in the poem could have derived their inspiration from the psalms. InThe Dream of the Rood, the image of Christ mounting the Cross as a warrior leaping to battle has been regarded variously as evidence of an artistic limitation imposed by oral tradition, or as a learned metaphor pointing to the divine and human nature of Christ and to the crucifixion as a conflict between Christ and the devil. The martyrdom of the apostles is represented as military conflict in Cynewulf'sFates of the Apostles, Christ and his apostles as king andcomitatusin Cynewulf'sAscension, and temptation by devils as a military attack inGuthlac A; these illustrate a point made by A.B. Lord concerning the nature of conservatism in oral tradition: ‘tradition is not a thing of the past but a living and dynamic process which began in the past [and] flourishes in the present’.

Stylistic disjunctions in The Dream of the Rood

1984 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 167-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Braun Pasternack
Keyword(s):  
Dream Of The Rood ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
The Cross

The stylistic disjunctions in The Dream of the Rood are not a new topic. They have been treated explicitly and implicitly for many years from several different points of view. The most frequently noted disjunction occurs at line 78 where the cross, having completed its eye-witness account of the crucifixion, commences a homily explaining the significance of its experience. But there are others as well: at 27 where the poet switches personae from dreamer to cross, at 121 where the dreamer again becomes the speaker to describe his personal reaction to his vision and at 147 where the poet begins an impersonal magnification of Christ which concludes the poem.

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