Last week, in celebration of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, I shared the first half of the Anglo-Saxon poem known as The Dream of the Rood. Earlier this week, I took a closer look at a few lines from the poem which I find particularly poignant.
As we come to the conclusion of the afterfeast, here's the rest of the poem, again with translation and some notes for students provided. Going through the second half of this poem again, I am struck by how deftly the author weaves a number of theological themes which feature prominently throughout medieval literature. Indeed, it is not the poets themes which are unusual, but the highly original way in which they are presented.
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| Initial from a Breviary (12th c.) for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross |
70-89
Hwæðere we ðær greotende gode hwile
stodon on staðole,
syððan stefn up gewat
hilderinca.
Hræw colode,
fæger feorgbold.
Þa us man fyllan ongan
ealle to eorðan.
Þæt wæs egeslic wyrd!
Bedealf us man on deopan seaþe. Hwæðre me þær dryhtnes þegnas,*
freondas gefrunon,**
gyredon me
golde ond seolfre.
Nu ðu miht gehyran,
hæleð min se leofa,
þæt ic bealuwara weorc gebiden hæbbe,
sarra sorga.
Is nu sæl cumen
þæt me weorðiað
wide ond side
menn ofer moldan,
ond eall þeos mære gesceaft,
gebiddaþ him to þyssum beacne. On me bearn godes
þrowode hwile.
Forþan ic þrymfæst nu
hlifige under heofenum, ond ic hælan mæg***
æghwylcne anra,
þara þe him bið egesa to me.
Iu ic wæs geworden
wita heardost,
leodum laðost,
ærþan ic him lifes weg
rihtne gerymde,
reordberendum.****
[Yet we there weeping a good while stood in place, after
the voices of the warriors had departed. The body cooled, fair life-dwelling.
Then one began to fell us all to earth. That was an evil fate! One buried us in
a deep pit; nevertheless there one of the Lord’s servants,* friends heard,**
and adorned me with gold and silver. Now you can hear, my good man, that I the
Evil One’s works have endured, painful sorrows. The time is now come that men
should honor me far and wide; that men over the earth, and all this glorious
creation should pray to this Sign. On me the Son of God suffered for a while;
therefore, I rise glorious now under heaven, and I am able to save*** each of
those for whom there is fear of me. Long ago I was made of punishments the
cruelest, most hateful to the peoples, before I them the true way of life
cleared for speech-bearers.****]
*The word I have translated here as “servant” is “thegn,”
Modern English thane. This word usually means the aristocratic retainer of a
king or chieftain in ancient Germanic society, and by extension, the noble
class in general. The reference is to St Helen, who—in an event commemorated
every September 14th—is said to have found the True Cross (along
with the other two crosses from Golgotha), which had been buried beneath a
temple to Venus built on the site by the Roman Emperor Hadrian.
**We’re missing a half-line here, so it’s hard to say
what the actual meaning of this line is.
***The verb is gehælan, “to heal, to comfort, to make whole.”
A related word, Hælend, is used in Anglo-Saxon to refer to Christ as
Savior.
****reordberend “speech-bearers” is a simple
kenning for humans, employed several times in this poem for the sake of
alliteration.
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| A Rood in a church in Gotland, Sweden |
90-114
Hwæt, me þa geweorðode wuldres ealdor
ofer holtwudu,
heofonrices weard,
swylce swa he his modor eac, Marian sylfe,
ælmihtig god
for ealle menn
geweorðode
ofer eall wifa cynn.
Nu ic þe hate,
hæleð min se leofa,
þæt ðu þas gesyhðe
secge mannum,
onwreoh wordum
þæt hit is wuldres beam,
se ðe ælmihtig god
on þrowode
for mancynnes
manegum synnum
ond Adomes
ealdgewyrhtum.
Deað he þær byrigde,
hwæðere eft dryhten aras
mid his miclan mihte
mannum to helpe.
He ða on heofenas astag. Hider eft fundaþ
on þysne middangeard
mancynn secan
on domdæge
dryhten sylfa,
ælmihtig god,
ond his englas mid,
þæt he þonne wile deman, se ah domes geweald,*
anra gehwylcum
swa he him ærur her
on þyssum lænum
life geearnaþ.
Ne mæg þær ænig
unforht wesan
for þam worde
þe se wealdend cwyð.
Frineð he for þære mænige hwær se man sie,
se ðe for dryhtnes naman deaðes wolde
biteres onbyrigan,
swa he ær on ðam beame dyde.**
[Behold, the Lord of Glory then honored me over all the
wood of the forest, the Heaven-Kingdom’s Ward, in much the same way as he his
mother also, Mary herself, the Almighty God for all men exalted above
woman-kind. Now I command you, my good man, that you tell this vision to men,
reveal with words that it is the Tree of Glory that the Almighty God suffered
upon for mankind’s many sins and Adam’s ancient wrongs. Death he there tasted,
yet afterwards the Lord arose by his great might, mankind to help. He then to
the heavens ascended, and hither afterwards hastens to this Middle-earth,
mankind to seek at Doomsday—the Lord Himself, Almighty God, and his angels with
him. He will then doom—who has the power of doom—each of them according as he earlier
merited in this transitory life. Nor may any be unafraid there, because of the
word that the Ruler pronounces. He asks there in the presence of the multitude
where the man be who for the Lord’s Name would taste of bitter death, as he
[the Lord] did on the Tree.**]
*The word used repeatedly for “to judge” or “judgment” is
some version of deman (“to judge, to deem, to praise”) or dom (“judgement,
justice majesty, glory, honor”). The reference here is clearly to the Last
Judgment as it was understood in medieval Christian theology, however it is
important to point out that this is no merely judicial power as we might think
of it today in an at least nominally democratic form of government—Christ’s
power to judge is directly associated with his glory, majesty, and kingly attributes.
There is a certain tendency in modern thinking and storytelling to assume that
the idea of glory is inversely proportional to justice. Our poet (along with his
audience) is completely comfortable with the idea that Christ’s coming in
judgment would not be possible without his also coming in glory.
**Here I think we can most clearly glimpse the
theological “goal” of this imaginative poem—to help the listener identify with
the sufferings of Christ by considering them from the perspective of the Cross
itself. Medieval devotion often employs this strategy, and many comparisons
might be here made to the hymnography of the Eastern Orthodox Church as it has
come down to us today. The goal of this approach is not (as many Protestant
reformers would later think) to create an unnecessary barrier between the devotee
and Christ; it is rather to provide yet another avenue of devotional engagement
by considering the Lord’s Passion through the perspective of those who
witnessed it firsthand—usually the Mother of God or St John the Beloved, or
others who stood at the foot of the Cross. In this poem, uniquely, we are given
the perspective of the Cross itself.
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| Another Rood from Gotland, this one over 800 years old. It is significant for portraying Christ triumphantly (as does this poem). Even on the cross, he is already wearing his crown. |
115-156
Ac hie þonne forhtiað,
ond fea þencaþ
hwæt hie to Criste
cweðan onginnen.
Ne þearf ðær þonne ænig
anforht† wesan
þe him ær in breostum bereð beacna selest,
ac ðurh ða rode sceal
rice gesecan
of eorðwege
æghwylc sawl,
seo þe mid wealdende
wunian þenceð."
Gebæd ic me þa to þan beame bliðe mode,
elne mycle, þær
ic ana wæs
mæte werede.*
Wæs modsefa
afysed on forðwege,**
feala ealra gebad
langunghwila. Is
me nu lifes hyht
þæt ic þone sigebeam
secan mote
ana oftor þonne
ealle men,
well weorþian.
Me is willa to ðam
mycel on mode,
ond min mundbyrd is
geriht to þære rode.***
Nah ic ricra feala
freonda on foldan,
ac hie forð heonon
gewiton of worulde dreamum, sohton him wuldres cyning,
lifiaþ nu on heofenum
mid heahfædere,
wuniaþ on wuldre,
ond ic wene me
daga gehwylce
hwænne me dryhtnes rod,
þe ic her on eorðan
ær sceawode,
on þysson lænan
life gefetige
ond me þonne gebringe
þær is blis mycel,
dream on heofonum,
þær is dryhtnes folc
geseted to symle,
þær is singal blis,
ond me† þonne asette
þær ic syþþan mot
wunian on wuldre,
well mid þam halgum
dreames brucan.
Si me dryhten freond,
se ðe her on eorþan
ær þrowode
on þam gealgtreowe
for guman synnum.
He us onlysde
ond us lif forgeaf,
heofonlicne ham.
Hiht wæs geniwad
mid bledum ond mid blisse þam þe þær bryne þolodan.****
Se sunu wæs sigorfæst
on þam siðfate,
mihtig ond spedig,
þa he mid manigeo com,
gasta weorode,
on godes rice,
anwealda ælmihtig,
englum to blisse
ond eallum ðam halgum
þam þe on heofonum ær
wunedon on wuldre,
þa heora wealdend cwom,
ælmihtig god,
þær his eðel wæs.
[But they are afraid, do not even know how to begin to
speak to Christ. They do not have any reason to be afraid who before in their
breasts bears the Best of Signs, but by means of the Cross wills the Kingdom to
seek, from earthly regions—every soul who with the Ruler intends to dwell.”
Prayed I then to that Cross, glad at heart, strong in courage, where I was
alone with a small company.* Mind was focused on departure;** I endured many times
of longing. It is now my life’s hope that I the Tree of Victory may seek alone,
to offer it honor above all men. The desire for that is great in my mind, and I
look to that Rood for patronage.*** Nor have I many wealthy friends on earth,
but they forth hence departed from this world’s joys, sought for themselves the
King of Glory, live now in the heavens with the Highfather, dwell in glory; and
I expect every day when the Lord’s Rood, who I here on earth before saw, will
fetch me from this transitory life, and bring me then to where there is great bliss,
joy in the heavens, where the folk of God are set at banquet, where is
everlasting bliss, and being set there I afterwards might dwell in glory, well
with the saints, enjoying joys. The Lord shall be to me a friend, who here on
earth formerly suffered on the gallows-tree for mankind’s sin. He redeemed us
and gave us life and a heavenly home. Hope was renewed, with glories and with
bliss, for those who there burning suffered.**** The Son was secure in victory
on the journey, mighty and successful when he came with a multitude, a troop of
spirits, into God’s Kingdom, Almighty Ruler, with angels to bliss, and with all
the saints whom in the heavens before lived in glory when their Ruler came,
Almighty God, where His homeland was.]
*Compare line 69b.
**That is, departure from this world.
***Literally taken, this line is: “and my mundbyrd
is directed to that Rood.” Nearly everyone in Anglo-Saxon society had a mundbora,
a patron and protector—ones parent, master, chieftain, earl, or king, depending
on the position one held in society. By association, the word came to be used
for the protection that God—via His saints and angels—offered to His people. The
author or visionary is claiming the Rood as his own particular heavenly patron.
****The poem ends by connecting three themes which seem
to have been closely intertwined for the poet (and probably for his audience as
well): First, the visionary’s hope that he will gain heaven and the company of
the saints by the intercession and patronage of the Cross; second, his
expectation that the Lord will prove his “friend” at the day of judgment;
third, that all of this—his own hopes for salvation and mankind’s hopes in
general—rest upon the victory of Christ in the “Harrowing of Hell” (the
Anglo-Saxon name for the Descent into Hades), the events of which are briefly
recalled in the final lines of the poem. For the poet, the ideas of heavenly
patronage, steadfast devotion, and the sure victory of Christ are not mutually
exclusive—rather, they are complementary, woven together into a beautiful tapestry
which would begin to unravel if any of the various threads were removed.
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| Rood screen at Our Lady of Egmanton, Nottinghamshire |
Currently reading: The Life in Christ, Nicholas Cabasilas
Current audio book: City of Fortune: How Venice Ruled the Seas, Roger Crowley
Currently translating: The Dream of the Rood
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