What the Tree Said

to the dreamer...

Good Friday from my backyard this morning. Never taking for granted the palms planted here in the 1950’s. A reminder of Jesus’ victory over the Cross.

“Upon me the child of god
travailed & tribulated some time.
And so, I tower tall once again,
under pendant skies,
pressed with potence,
now able to cure any one of you,
you who are as afeared as me."

- from: The Dream of the Rood (tree)

Preserved in the 10th-century Vercelli Book, this poem may be as old as the 8th-century Ruthwell Cross. There are many interpretations and translations to explore.

The Dream of the Rood is considered one of the oldest works of “dream poetry” in Old English literature. I chose this translation, highlighted, after reading several, as it encapsulates “clearly,” the overall dream without compromising meaning.

Given to us.

On this Good Friday I meditate on the excruciating gift, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross by sharing one of the oldest medieval literatures. Long and lamenting this dream poem, it has been thought, might have been written partly to plead mercy to the marauding Vikings at the time.

We plead over our yesterdays, todays and our future, as what could possibly be new under our sun. Under our Son.

Spat on, mocked, humiliated, stripped, beaten, carrying a cross on His back to a brutal and ultimate death, the final sharp pierce of skin, blood and water pouring over Jesus and the tree, ruby stones glistening in the man’s dream, in the form of a cross…

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” - John 3:16

The poem is set up with the anonymous poet/narrator having a dream. In this dream or vision he is speaking to the Cross on which Jesus was crucified. The details of the Passion of Christ, through the perspective of the Rood, the cross itself, is honestly amazing. It is so long that in order to take it in slowly it has been translated and written into three parts.

The manifested cross acts as Christ’s nobleman, a brave warrior loyal to his King standing tall to His death. Heroism and loyalty were two common themes in Old English literature, carried over from the Germanic, brought to the British Isles by the Anglo-Saxons.

The narrator begins by saying what he saw during the night as he dreamt.

Before him was the cross, hovering in the air. It was covered in gems, gold, and “treasure adorned.” The dreamer also states that through the glint of gold, he sees a “wretched hostility” and blood “on the right side.” As time passes, once again, the dreamer expresses how the cross changes appearance from well-adorned to filled with blood. In the second part, the dreamer changes and seems to be speaking in the first person from the perspective of the “Rood” who gives his account of what happened.

After transforming from a tree to the cross, the Rood is put on a hill where Jesus is crucified onto its limbs and where he fights for the salvation of mankind. The Rood relates how he fought with Jesus by not bending down, not fighting with the wicked.

After these events, the Rood narrates how Jesus’s dead body was detached from him and buried. After this, the cross tells the story of how he ascended into the heavens, decorated so that everyone could see him. In the last part of the poem, the dreamer is once again in the present, having relayed the details of his dream. He then praises Jesus and has hope for eternal life.

Continuing with “Behold,” I don’t think I will ever look at a tree the same way again after pouring through a dreamer’s dream…

Wishing you all a beautiful Good Friday and Easter Weekend.

Much love, deb ox