cynewulf was the dreamer in the dream of the rood.
cynewulf was the dreamer in the dream of the rood.
who is the dreamer in the dream of the rood?
cynewulf
likewise, some scholars have tried to attribute "the dream of the rood" to cynewulf, a named old english poet who lived around the ninth century. two of cynewulf's signed poems are found in the vercelli book, the manuscript that contains "the dream of the rood", among them "elene", which is about saint helena's supposed discovery of the cross on which jesus was crucified. thus franz dietrich argued that the similarities between cynewulf's "elene" and "the dream of the rood" reveal that the two must have been authored by the same individual. again, however, this attribution is not widely accepted.
dream of the rood
there are various, alternative readings of the structure of the poem, given the many components of the poem and the lack of clear divisions. scholars like faith h. patten divide the poem into three parts, based on who is speaking: introductory section (lines 1–26), speech of the cross (lines 28–121), and closing section (lines 122–156). though the most obvious way to divide the poem, this does not take into account thematic unity or differences in tone. constance b. hieatt distinguishes between portions of the cross's speech based on speaker, subject, and verbal parallels, resulting in: prologue (lines 1–27), vision i (lines 28–77): history of the rood, vision ii (lines 78–94): explanation of the rood's glory, vision iii (lines 95–121): the rood's message to mankind, and epilogue (lines 122–156). m. i. del mastro suggests the image of concentric circles, similar to a chiasmus, repetitive and reflective of the increased importance in the center: the narrator-dreamer's circle (lines 1–27), the rood's circle (lines 28–38), christ's circle (lines 39-73a), the rood's circle (lines 73b-121), and the narrator-dreamer's circle (lines 122–156).
dream of the rood