Questions on The Dream of the Rood
1. What are runes?
2. What significance does the carving of some lines of the Dream of the Rood on the Ruthwell Cross seem to have?
3. What does the dreamer say about himself?
4. What is the frame of the poem?
5. The introduction notes that the dreamer is in isolation and misery. Why might the theme of exile be so prominent in A-S poetry?
6. Where do we see the dreamer's isolation in the poem?
7. What might be the significance of the hour of the dream?
8. What are some features of this prose translation of the Dream that are found also in Caedmon's hymn?
9. Restore the following line to ordinary syntax:
This was surely no felon's gallows, but holy spirits beheld it there, men upon earth, and all this glorious creation.
10. What is the significance of the jewels on the cross?
11. With whom or what does the dreamer make the cross interchangeable? Where do we see this?
12. What characteristics of a warrior are given to the cross?
13. What characteristics of a warrior are given to Christ?
14. What is the "high gallows" that Christ climbs on? How do you know?