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Title: Dream of the Rood translation
Description: This is a line-by-line translation of the Old English poem 'The Dream of the Rood'. It was completed for a preliminary Oxford University Old English exam, part of the English Language and Literature degree. It is useful for commentary practice or for the translation itself, as well as linguistic information.
Description: This is a line-by-line translation of the Old English poem 'The Dream of the Rood'. It was completed for a preliminary Oxford University Old English exam, part of the English Language and Literature degree. It is useful for commentary practice or for the translation itself, as well as linguistic information.
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1
Hwæt, iċ swefna cyst secgan wylle,
Listen! I will tell the best of dreams,
hwæt mē ġemǣtte tō midre nihte
which (intro to clause forming parallel to secgan - swefna cyst - main verb has as objects both
dependent clause and a noun) I dreamed in the middle of the night
syðþan reordberend reste wunedon
...
(reordberend consistently christian context — idea of humans as
voice-bearers interesting due to prosopopoeia — idea that human experience so limited? objects
have experienced more)
Þūhte mē þæt iċ ġesāwe syllicre trēow
It seemed that I perceived a most marvellous tree
on lyft lǣdan, lēohte bewunden,
5
lifted in the air, wound round by light,
bēama beorhtost
...
That beam was all
begoten mid golde; ġimmas stōdon
infused with gold; gems stood (symbolic link between gold and blood)
fæġere æt foldan scēatum swylċe þǣr fīfe wǣron
hype
rmetr
ic
lines
810
beautiful, strewn at its foot; (foldan sceatum can mean all corners of the earth - cross extends
horizon to horizon) likewise there were five (five wounds of Christ)
uppe on þām eaxleġespanne
...
(unique compound) The angel of God watched over all (Behēoldon þǣr enġel
Dryhtnes ealle/fæġere þurh forðġesceaft: all those beautiful through eternity gazed there on the
angel of the Lord - - those considered loyal throughout)
fæġere þurh forðġesceaft
...
(beautiful since the dawn of creation/throughout all creation) Certainly, this was
no wicked’s gallows, (fracodes adj used as noun)
ac hine þǣr behēoldon hāliġe gāstas,
but there beheld holy angels,
2
men ofer moldan, ond eall þēos mǣre ġesceaft
...
Sylliċ wæs se siġebēam ond iċ synnum fāh,
Rare was that victory-tree and I guilty of sins,
forwunded mid wommum
...
I observed the glory tree,
wǣdum ġeweorðode, wynnum scīnan,
15
adorned with trappings, shining with joy,
ġeġyred mid golde; ġimmas hæfdon
dressed with gold; gems had
bewriġene weorðlīċe Wealdendes trēow
...
Hwæðre iċ þurh þæt gold onġytan meahte
However, through that gold I could perceive
earmra ǣrġewin, þæt hit ǣrest ongan
wretched former struggle, when it first began (unique compound - could refer to the agony of
crucifixion (see lines 30b-33a/87-88a - generic cross, and 50-51) or the hostility of those who
crucified christ - gewinn, hostility/strife, earme - sinful rejecting of christ, ær - mankind’s historical
sinfulness)
swǣtan on þā swīðran healfe
...
I was then sorely afflicted,
forht iċ wæs for þǣre fæġran ġesyhðe
...
I saw that brave sign (alliteration pointed — contrast between
glory and reaction of the dreamer)
wendan wǣdum ond blēom; hwīlum hit wæs mid wǣtan bestēmed,
change garment and colour; at times drenched with moisture,
beswyled mid swātes gange, hwīlum mid since ġeġyrwed
...
3
Hwæðre iċ þǣr licgende lange hwīle
Nevertheless there I lay for a long time
behēold hrēowċeariġ Hǣlendes trēow,
25
observed sorrowfully the Saviour’s tree,
oð ðæt iċ ġehȳrde þæt hit hlēoðrode
...
(PROSOPOPOEIA)
Ongan þā word sprecan wudu sēlesta:
It began then to make a speech, that good wood:
Þæt wæs ġeāra iū (iċ þæt ġȳta ġeman)
“It was long ago (yet still I remember)
þæt iċ wæs āhēawen holtes on ende,
that I was cut down from the edge of the forest,
āstyred of stefne mīnum
...
Strong enemies there seized me,
ġeworhton him þǣr tō wǣfersȳne, hēton mē heora wergas hebban
...
Bǣron mē ðǣr beornas on eaxlum oð ðæt hīe mē on beorg āsetton;
On their shoulders men bore me until they placed me on a hill;
ġefæstnodon mē þǣr fēondas ġenōge
...
Then I saw mankind’s Saviour;
efstan elne myċle þæt hē mē wolde on ġestīgan
...
Þǣr iċ þā ne dorste ofer Dryhtnes word
There I dared not against the Lord’s word
būgan oððe berstan, þā iċ bifian ġeseah
to bend or to break, though I saw the tremble
35
4
eorðan scēatas
...
I could have
fēondas ġefyllan, hwæðre iċ fæste stōd
...
Onġyrede hine þā ġeong hæleð - þæt wæs God ælmihtiġ,
He undressed then, the young man that was God almighty,
strang ond stīðmōd
...
He ascended upon the great gallows,
mōdiġ on maniġra ġesyhðe, þā hē wolde mancyn lȳsan
...
Bifode iċ þā mē se beorn ymbclypte
...
I did not dare, however, to bend to earth, (relationship
between the cross and the earth)
feallan tō foldan scēatum, ac iċ sceolde fæste standan
...
Rōd wæs iċ ārǣred
...
I exalted the noble king,
heofona Hlāford, hyldan mē ne dorste
...
I did not dare to hunch
...
On mē syndon þā dolg ġesīene
They drove through me with dark nails
...
Ne dorste iċ hira nǣnigum sceððan
...
I did not dare harm anyone
...
Eall iċ wæs mid blōde bestēmed,
5
They reviled we two, both together
...
pouring out from the side of the man after he had his soul sent forth
...
Ġeseah iċ weruda God
terrible events
...
Þȳstro hæfdon
severely stretched out
...
Wēop eal ġesceaft,
55
black under heaven
...
Crist wæs on rōde
...
Christ was on the cross
...
21 — repeated vocabulary across groups of people)
tō þām æðelinge; iċ þæt eall behēold
...
Sāre iċ wæs mid sorgum ġedrēfed; hnāg iċ hwæðre þām secgum tō
handa,
Painfully I was with sorrow afflicted; I bent yet to the men’s hands,
6
ēaðmōd, elne myċle
...
They accepted there almighty God,
āhōfon hine of ðām hefian wīte
...
The warriors left me there
standan stēame bedrifenne
...
standing covered in hot blood
...
(eall intensifier at beginning of clause — emphasis also for —
severely)
Ālēdon hīe ðǣr limwēriġne, ġestōdon him æt his līċes hēafdum;
They laid him down weary of limb, they stood at the head of his body;
behēoldon hīe ðǣr heofenes Dryhten, ond hē hine ðǣr hwīle reste,
they beheld there the Lord of heaven, (principles of contrast — weakness of physical body
compared to the divinity of Christ — layering — associating heroic warrior tradition with God —
theology of god’s divinity and humanity — how godlike/human was christ?) and he rested himself
there for a while,
mēðe æfter ðām miċlan ġewinne
...
(means dead) Then they built him a sepulchre
beornas on banan ġesyhðe
...
(slayer is the cross, agent of the killing — ambivalence) They
carved it of bright stone;
ġesetton hīe ðǣron sigora Wealdend
...
(using grand epithets for god as his actual body placed
into a tomb) Then they began to sing him a sorrowful song
earme on þā ǣfentīde
...
Then they would again travel,
mēðe fram þām mǣran þēodne; reste hē ðǣr mǣte weorode
...
Hwæðere wē ðǣr grēotende gōde hwīle
However we wept there for a good while
70
7
stōdon on staðole syððan stefn ūp ġewāt
stood in our places after the cry went up
hilderinca
...
(stood in our places after the cry of the warrior went up) Body cold,
fæġer feorgbold
...
Then someone felled us
ealle tō eorðan
...
That was a terrible fate!
Bedealf ūs man on dēopan sēaþe; hwæðre mē þǣr Dryhtnes þeġnas, 75
Someone buried us in a deep pit; yet there the Lord’s thanes,
frēondas ġefrūnon,
friends, found out about me,
ġyredon mē golde ond seolfre
...
Nū ðū miht ġehȳran, hæleð mīn se lēofa,
Now you may hear, my beloved man, (direct address between cross and dreamer — becomes
didactic)
þæt iċ bealuwara weorc ġebiden hæbbe,
that I have endured the work of evil ones, (apposition)
sārra sorga
...
Now the time has come (repetition of nu (now) — language of the present
whereas previously all has long passed — visionary history has come to present, overall attitude
towards cross which goes beyond the dream)
þæt mē weorðiað wīde ond sīde
that I will be honoured far and wide (cross becomes aware of its own significance — no longer
humble)
menn ofer moldan ond eall þēos mǣre ġesceaft,
8
by men of earth and all this glorious creation, (repetition of l
...
On mē bearn Godes
will pray for themselves at this sign
...
each one of those who are in awe of me
...
correct clear away speech-bearers (before I cleared the right way of life for them, the speechbearers — cross as path that can be followed)
Hwæt, mē þā ġeweorðode wuldres Ealdor
Lo, the glorious leader then lifted me
ofer holtwudu, heofonriċes Weard,
over the wood of the forest, guardian of the kingdom of heaven,
swylċe swā hē his mōdor ēac, Marian sylfe,
likewise so he his mother also, Mary herself,
ælmihtiġ God for ealle menn
90
9
almighty God, in sight of all men
ġeweorðode ofer eall wīfa cynn
...
Nū iċ þē hāte, hæleð mīn se lēofa,
95
Now I command you, my beloved warrior,
þæt ðū þās ġesyhðe secge mannum,
that you tell all men of this sight, (speaker has built into vision reason for telling — self-justifying)
onwrēoh wordum þæt hit is wuldres bēam
reveal with words that it is glory’s beam
se ðe ælmihtiġ God on þrōwode
on which the almighty God suffered
for mancynnes manegum synnum
for mankind’s many sins
ond Adomes ealdġewyrhtum
...
Dēað hē þǣr byriġde; hwæðere eft Dryhten ārās
Death he tasted there, (to be killed is weakening — more agency, deliberate — in latin, pun
between word for death and taste — calque (words coming from another lang which may not have
same meaning etc) — adam tasted apple which was death — became mortal — tree of life
becomes image, tree of crucifixion associated w tree from garden of Eden) however afterwards the
Lord arose
mid his miċlan mihte mannum tō helpe
...
Hē ðā on heofenas āstāg, hider eft fundaþ
He then ascended into heaven, hither again he will come
on þysne middanġeard mancynn sēċan
on this middle-earth to seek mankind
10
on dōmdæġe Dryhten sylfa,
105
on doomsday the Lord himself
ælmihtiġ God ond his enġlas mid,
almighty God and his angels with,
þæt hē þonne wile dēman, se āh dōmes ġeweald,
that he then will judge, he has the power of judgement,
ānra ġehwylcum swā hē him ǣrur hēr
an each as he formerly here
on þyssum lǣnum līfe ġeearnaþ
...
of the words that the Lord speaks
...
the bitter taste, as he did formerly upon that beam
...
that they to Christ began to call
...
who with the Lord thinks to dwell
...
Wæs mōdsefa
a small company
...
Is mē nū līfes hyht
times of longing
...
Mē is willa tō ðām
fully honour
...
) My will to this
12
myċel on mōde, ond mīn mundbyrd is
130
is great in my heart, (This desire is great in my mind/heart) and my protection is
ġeriht tō þǣre rōde
...
I do not possess many powerful (positioning as some kind of exile figure)
frēonda on foldan, ac hīe forð heonon
friends on earth, but they hence forth
ġewiton of worulde drēamum, sōhton him wuldres Cyning,
departed from this world of dreams, to seek the glory of the King,
lifiaþ nū on heofenum mid hēahfædere,
they live now in heaven with God,
wuniaþ on wuldre, ond iċ wēne mē
135
dwell in glory, and I think
daga ġehwylċe hwænne mē Dryhtnes rōd
every day of when that Lord’s cross
þe iċ hēr on eorðan ǣr scēawode
that I here on earth saw
on þysson lǣnan līfe ġefetiġe
in this transitory life, fetches
ond mē þonne ġebringe þǣr is blis myċel,
and brings me there to great bliss,
drēam on heofonum, þǣr is Dryhtnes folc
joy in heaven, there is the Lord’s people
ġeseted tō symle, þǣr is singal blis,
set down to feast, there is everlasting bliss,
ond mē þonne āsette þǣr iċ syþþan mōt
and I then am set where I always may
140
13
wunian on wuldre, well mid þām hālgum
dwell in glory, well with the saints
drēames brūcan
...
May the Lord be my friend,
se ðe hēr on eorþan ǣr þrōwode
145
He who here on earth has suffered
on þām ġealgtrēowe for guman synnum
...
Hē ūs onlȳsde ond ūs līf forġeaf
He releases us and gives us life
heofonlicne hām
...
Hope was renewed (the wanderer — suffering is renewed l
...
with glory and with bliss for those who endured the fires
...
almighty God, where his homeland was
Title: Dream of the Rood translation
Description: This is a line-by-line translation of the Old English poem 'The Dream of the Rood'. It was completed for a preliminary Oxford University Old English exam, part of the English Language and Literature degree. It is useful for commentary practice or for the translation itself, as well as linguistic information.
Description: This is a line-by-line translation of the Old English poem 'The Dream of the Rood'. It was completed for a preliminary Oxford University Old English exam, part of the English Language and Literature degree. It is useful for commentary practice or for the translation itself, as well as linguistic information.