The Dream of the Rood

Considered the oldest surviving dream-vision poem in English, “Dream of the Rood” interprets the tale of Christ’s crucifixion and ascension as a moving heroic saga. The 156-line single-stanza poem by an unknown author was composed in the early eighth century. Fragments of the poem have been found inscribed as runes on the Ruthwell Cross, a stone monument in Scotland, while the entire text is preserved in a 10th-century handwritten parchment manuscript. In the poem, an unknown speaker receives a powerful vision of the “rood” or the crucifix, in which the personified rood tells the tale of Christ’s Passion. Rich in figurative language, meaningful symbols, paradox, and irony, the poem reflects the syncretic literary and historic conventions of its time. It is composed in Old English alliterative verse, with alliteration as the rhythmic principle. Meant for oral performance, Old English alliterative verse is distinguished by the caesura, or the mid-line long pause.

This guide uses Dr. Aaron K. Hostetter’s translation of the poem. In this translation, the poem has been divided into stanzas for ease of organization and reading. Places where a stanza ends or begins mid-line are indicated as “a” (the line before the caesura) and “b” (the line after the caesura).