How Is Jesus Portrayed In A Dream Of The Rood

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In the middle ages, religion was a profound subject of life that was talked about, and written about. Anglo-Saxon Paganism started around 449 A.D. and continued to 1,066 A.D. These men invaded and conquered the south eastern part of Britain around 450. Some of these men were German who were migrating from continental Europe, who were adopting and creating their own culture and literature. They expressed their religion through their literature works, such as “Dream of the Rood.” This poem is one of the first middle English literature works known to be around, created around some of the first centuries, it is written on the Ruthwell Cross located in Scotland. In “Dream of the Rood,” the narrator portrays Jesus as a fearless warrior through his…show more content…
In “Dream of the Rood” compared to the Bible, the bible shows accounts of the abuse Jesus went through in detail. The poem de-emphasizes the abuse by writing about Jesus in a heroic manner rather than a weak human being. The poem does mention where Jesus was mocked in lines 46-48, “They drove dark nails […] They mocked both of us,” but not in detail like the bible at all (“Greenblatt”). The poem demonstrates Him as a passive participant of His death. In the Gospel of Matthew, they “mocked him, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ They spit on him, took the staff and struck him on the head again and again” (“English: Bible”). During this moment, as the gospel says, Jesus asks for a drink of water; “The Dream of the Rood,” omits this particular part to down play weakness in their warrior Jesus. In “The Dream of the Rood,” the narrator does state that when Jesus died, he was “lifted … from [his] cruel torment;” but not mentioning how Jesus could not shoulder-carry the weight of his own cross (“Greenblatt”). Over-all the poem de-emphasizes the torment and suffering Jesus went through that was written in the Bible which makes Anglo-Saxon Paganism different from the standard Christianity
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