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T2 - Judith and The Dream of The Rood (Secondary Reading)
T2 - Judith and The Dream of The Rood (Secondary Reading)
JUDITH
Peer Review
“as an account of salvation history, the unity of the codex is obvious, but the
imbalance in apparent intention, quality and style of writing suggests the thematic
relevance probably ensured the preservation of the disparate texts in each division”
Grasso, Anthony R - 'Theology and Structure in The Dream of the Rood’, Religion and
Literature (pp23-38)
https://www-jstor-org.ezphost.dur.ac.uk/stable/40059473?
sid=primo&seq=12#metadata_info_tab_contents
Captivates readers with its controlled, dramatic style and understated expression
Subtle catharsis = invites re-reading, remains a favourite
The portrait of Christ the Victor-vanquished = so well balanced
o Poem read as an attempt to preclude the kinds of Christologicla heresies
which had been addressed at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 C.E
“the dream” in the mainstream of Christian literature is about the final judgement
Portrayal of Christ’s dual nature in concrete images
o Uses minimal theological language
o Piece withi its literary expression and structure intertwined
o Impact and message are not didactic aimed at correcting heretical though but
rather the poem presupposes belief in the tenets of faith, Christ’s salvic death
and resurrection
Aim = appears to be to reinforce faith and to evoke an interior conversion, an
individual response to the theological concepts which define Christian faith
Plausible source for the theology and structure = Nicene Creed
o Moves from the concept of God as light through the death, resurrection, and
second coming of christ
o Echoes phrases familiar to any Christian
o Proceeds from a summary of the tenets of faith to focus on the believers
gathered at worship
o The poem treats the salvific event and then emphasises the individual
response of the rood and the onlookers
Prayer and poem = common pattern and purpose – to rekindle and active response
to a faith that is professed
The Dream of the Rood may have been composed as a personal meditation on the
Creed by a monastic author
Whatever the origin, textual evidence suggests that it is comprised of devotional
texts
Makes more accessible the abstract theological formulae concerning Christ’s identity
and mission which are found in the Creed
Peter Orton
o Compares the effect with that In the riddles of the Exeter Book
o Poet sought ot achieve a “continuous denouement” which deepens with
repeated readings
The poet invites an active response and succeeds in filling the gaps left by the
theological language that evolved in formulating the Creed
E.g., compassionate reaction to heroic suffering of “young saviour” = engenders
greater natural response to faith
Poem seeks to catalyze reflection on one’s spiritual condition
o Line 13 = “the tree of victory was wonderful, and I stained by sin,/ wounded
sorely by iniquities”
o Vision of glorified cross = forms a vivd contrast to the things of earth,
enabling the dreamer/narrator and reader of the poem to become aware of
their spiritual condition
Poet identifies the glorified cross guarded by hosts of angels
o Represents the ‘Lord of Creation” and Jesus Christ
Poem expands upon the image of transcendent light contained in the Creed
Cross adorned with gold and gems
o Liturgical association and gems = represented the sacred wounds, an
interpretation of some power
Emphasises the tree’s living nature in account of making of cross
o Its suffering builds the pathos that leads up to Christ’s death
o Connects the description of Christ’s person and identity with the definition.
Of his earthly mission
Context of Christian hope as the foundation from which to enter into reflection on
what sinfulness has brought about
As a mediation on faith, The Dream of the Rood culminates in a highly symbolic
vision
o Line 122 = heavenly banquet
o Transmitted by dreamer rather than by the cross
o Dreamer undergoes an interior transformation (awareness that he is “stained
by sin”)
As a symbol of all Christians engaged in the process of salvation, he progresses from
being a passive observer to becoming an active witness to faith
o Enlivens the phrase “the life of the world to come” – what life will be
Works at faith through human compassion rather than rhetorical eloquence or
inducing fear of the afterlife
o Success in alternating terse and abstract credal statements into dynamic
images
Reinforces the extra-liturgically the main purpose of the communal recitation of the
Creed
o The desire for renewed commitment on the part of the believer to the person
and mission of Christ
Herbison, Ivan – Heroism and Comic Subversion in the Old English Judith’ English Studies
(pp1-25)
Abstract
Exhibits a more complex and ambiguous relationship to the heroic tradition that is
admitted
o Explores the functions of comic strategies
o Comic devices of parody, dramatic irony, and the grotesque undermine and
destabilise the concepts of the male hero, the feast, heroi battle and the
comitatus
Uneasy compromise between a woman hero who acts like a man and a heroine who
plays one of the traditional female religious roles
Judith’s essential feminity = subverts the conventional categories of male hero, her
role as protagonist challenges the subordinate function of women in heroic poetry
o Stressing her spiritual virtues, she cannot lead a comitatus, like the traditional
hero
She is the antithesis of Holofenes – powerful commander
Judith as moral and religious figure
Employment of comedic devices to subvert traditional heroic values and institutions
Comic subversions – cumulative effect
o Parody of traditional type scenes
o Dramatic iron – which undermines the concepts of hero and comitatus
o Grotesque humour
Treatment of Holoferne’s drunken feast (15-37)
o Combination of techniques to subvert the heroic convention of the feast
o Degrades the participants and overtuns a traditional cultural symbol of
harmony
Creates a disturbing and unsettling power
Feelings of disquiet felt = Judith as a woman is seen to appropriate the role of hero
o Inevitably challenges traditional concepts of leadership and social institutions
o Protagonist’s strength is moral and spiritual rather than physical and her
leadership is absed on her relationship to God rather than to a comitatus
Presence of a woman in a role conventionally belonging to men = questioning of
traditional heroic expectations
Poem doesn’t resolve its ambigious attutde to the heroic but poses questions of the
heroic ethos
Old English Judith confirms the Christian paradox, that with God’s help, the
unassailable can become weak
E.G.Stanley
o “there is not muh laughter in Old English literature”
o Judith = one of the few Old English poems that has identifiable comic elemtns
F.J Heinemann
o Comic effects of a mock heroic treatment o fthe type-scene
Andy Orchard
o Comments on the parodic juxtaposition of heroic formulas, and delight In the
grotesque
Relationship between its Germanic style and biblical subject
The clothing metaphor
o Define the relationship of Old English biblical and Hagiographical poems
Comic devices of parody, dramatic irony and the grotesque undermine and
destabilise the concepts of the male hero, the feast and the comitatus
Content
Kaup, Judith – The Old English Judith: A Study of Poetic Style, Theological Tradition, and
Anglo-Saxon Christian Concepts
https://www-degruyter-com.ezphost.dur.ac.uk/document/doi/10.1515/ang-2016-0058/
html
Lee, Alvin A., - ‘Toward a Critique of The Dream of the Rood’ in Anglo-Saxon Poetry:
Essays in Appreciation (pp.163-191)
Magennis, Hugh – ‘Adaption of Biblical Detail in the Old English Judith: The Feast Scene’,
Neuphilogische Mitteilungen (pp.331-337)