The Dream of the Rood

In “Dream of the Rood,” the rood symbolizes Christ, his sacrifice, and the salvation he offers humanity. The rood is also a mediator between Christ and human beings: The rood clarifies this when it says that God “worthied [it] above foresty trees” (Line 92), just as he chose Mary above all women. Like Mary, the rood too is an object of devotion, a mediator for Christ, just like Christ himself is humankind’s mediator before God.

The rood attains this exalted status because it experiences Christ’s pain: The rood describes how it was slick with the blood of the savior, and how the nails that pierced the flesh of Christ wounded the rood as well. Since the poem presents Christ’s suffering as inseparable from his triumph, the rood is a symbol of victory in sacrifice. The rood is both a “beacon” (Line 7a), studded with gems and “gotten in gold” (Line 6b), and a bleeding figure filled with “traumas / wretched and old” (Line 19). It is symbolic of eternity because it unites the past—Christ’s Passion—and the present and future—his triumph. It is a symbol of transformation because it goes from being a tree in the forest, to an instrument of torture, to an object of veneration.