Dream Of Rood Animism

When reviewing history, it is common for people to associate major events with the person who made that event so significant. Babe Ruth and his amazing contribution to baseball history or Christopher Columbus’ journey to the discovery of new land. Rarely do people think of the outside factors that contributed to their success. What about Ruth’s baseball bat or Columbus’ ship that made everything possible? If given the chance to tell their side of the story, people would view things in a more abstract way. The Dream of Rood, written by an unknown author, does exactly that. The poem begins with the ominous narrator, the Dreamer, who recalls a dream vision about a tree. It isn’t just any tree though; it is the tree that was later turned into the
cross that Jesus had died on. The crucifixion is told from the point of view of the Cross and how it recalled the day. Rather than retelling the biblical story of the crucifixion, the Rood describes the day as a battle fought between good and evil − God and Death. The poem is a piece of Anglo-Saxon literature dating back to the tenth century, when paganism was highly established and the original warrior was described as a brute soldier. The poem introduces a new element to Anglo-Saxon culture, creating a turning point in religious and literary history. With the clash of the two religions and their original portrayal of the warrior code, the poem acts as a parallel to historical events that took place during the Anglo-Saxon era.
During the first portion of the dream, the prominent pagan culture is represented with the animistic portrayal of the Rood, who ultimately becomes the Cross.
Animism is a term derived from the Latin word, anima, which means breath or soul. Pagans believed that everything in the universe was alive and had a spiritual essence. Early in the poem, the tree possesses humanistic qualities that support this belief. Speaking in first person, the Rood recalls what happened to it, as if it were alive to know. The rood states that, “[strong enemies] seized me… commanded me to raise up their criminals,” giving the inanimate object the ability to remember the event and respond to it (30-32). Without knowing it, the rood soon became a part of a life changing event in history. In the Bible, Jesus’ crucifixion is viewed as the biggest sacrifice God made for his love for mankind. After recalling Jesus’ death, the Cross tells the Dreamer his
proclamation:
Now you might hear, my dear hero, that I have endured the work of evil-doers, harsh sorrows. Now the time has come that far and wide they will honor me, men over the earth and all this glorious creation, and pray to this sign. On me the Son of God suffered for a time; and so, glorious now I rise up under the heavens, and am able to heal each of those who is in awe of me. (78-87)

The Cross states that men all over the earth will look to it and “pray to this sign.” (83) The connotation behind this phrase is ambiguous.
What sign should men to give praise to? The Cross or Christ itself? With this ambiguity, the text relays the message that the praise goes to the Cross for its contribution to the crucifixion, rather than Jesus. When the devout dreamer confirms that he/she will, “seek the tree of victory... and honor it as well,” it assumes that the tree deserves the praise, which prompts idolatry. Pagan’s faithfulness is shown in idolatry, meaning that they worship the idol of the Cross as a god. Idolatry was a common practice throughout paganism, which was frowned upon by Christians. Rather than giving praise to one god, they worshipped many gods for their contributions. For instance, a popular god during the Anglo-Saxon era was Thunor, god of thunder and the sky. Paganism was viewed as a polytheistic faith which became controversial when Christianity was beginning to make its presence to Anglo-Saxons in the early sixth
century.