ENGL200A Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Aldhelm, Ingeld, Alcuin
Document Summary
The dream of the rood and the wanderer. A dream-vision dreams represent a type of authority and mystical power. A riddling poem puzzling language that causes us to contemplate. Subjective genitive (the rood"s dream) vs. objective genitive (dream about the rood) A porous relationship they are not isolated from each other. In the poem, there is a dreamer dreaming about the rood, but the rood also discusses what it dreams about, within the dream. A modern editor gave this title it was not original to the author. The narrator wants to be a part of this he is looking forward to the afterlife (escapism). Desire is built into the very essence of things. Apophasis: the inexplicable; too holy to describe with mere words. The cross as a symbol of death but also a symbol of hope. The tree is described with superlatives and is glorious but is also filled with agony and blood (15-20).
