Old English Poetry : Dream of the Rood and The Ruin Analysis

Dream of the Rood

Within the poem Dream of the Rood, there are several comparisons, juxtapositions, and dichotomies. These are where two opposing descriptions or ideas are used for the same object. It may not at first make much sense until put together to enhance the meaning of what the author is trying to express. In this case, how normal or unremarkable people and things can become far greater than outward appearances.

The poet starts by describing a tree like any other, but far greater than at first thought. The tree is not only an object of wonder, but the greatest tree that has ever existed. What makes the tree so great at first sight is how it is covered in brilliant light and precious gems of magnificent quality. Angels also watch over its existence. This hides the original ominous and horrible use of the tree. In fact, without that terrible history there would be no reason for the current veneration and glory.

The author himself is not the most worthy of people to witness the tree. He claims to be full of sin and unrighteousness. Despite that, like the unremarkable tree, he is chosen to have a holy dream explaining why the tree is so important. Most likely the poet is describing a reliquary that houses a relic or holy object. A simple piece of wood, fabric, or human remains is placed in a special highly decorated container for religious practitioners to gaze upon as they worship.

As with any dream, there are unrealistic elements that otherwise would be dismissed as nonsense. In this case the great tree starts to speak. The inanimate tree becomes personified with a human voice. There is no hesitation of acceptance or questioning how the tree is talking. Like any otherwise absurdity in a dream the talking is perfectly natural. What the tree talks about is how it transformed from a normal tree to the greatest in history so far as the poem is concerned.

Within the poem is the idea that despite its dream qualities, the objects and events depicted are very much real. The tree might as well be able to talk because of the grand story behind the vision. Although happening far in the past, the dream progresses as if the events were unfolding in real time. Raw emotions of the tree and visionary spill out for all readers to feel.

Strong men, Romans to specific, tore the tree down in a violent act in preparation for a violent purpose. The most retched criminals were, by Romans standards of punishment, to be crucified on the tree. This proposed act horrified the tree, but who was to be crucified on it changed the perspective. A hero in the form of Jesus, known as the Christ or Savior, was placed on the tree as a sacrifice. Even while wanting to either bow to the holy figure or falling on the Roman soldiers it did not move. The importance of who is about to die forces the tree to reconsider its own actions and play the part fate has given it.

The tree’s fate becomes so intertwined with the suffering and death of Jesus, that they become in the mind of the poet practically one and the same. Both of them have the marks of nails pounded into them. Blood covers Jesus and the tree that he hangs upon. It is a terrible vision with a victorious outcome when they suffer and are glorified together.

Before they are glorified, Jesus body is put into a tomb and the tree buried in the ground to be forgotten. Early followers mourn and cry at the loss and then quietly leave after the burials. As anyone who knows the Christian religion can explain, Jesus Christ rises out of the tomb and saves humanity from sin and permanent death. The Rood, another word for the cross, also is found and raised from the ground. Jesus Christ becomes the Salvation of the World and the remnants of the Rood, or cross, to be Venerated.

No matter how real life might be, it is seen by believers and this poet as nothing compared to the eternal rewards for those who worship Jesus as the Christ. The dreamer, having seen the cross decked in finery and glory, decides to search for his eternal reward of living forever with Jesus who returns to Heaven from whence he came. Theologically, Jesus Christ is considered both a man and a God similar to how the tree is both a piece of wood and a holy object. The instrument of death becomes the inspiration for living a holy life.

The Ruin

The other poem, The Ruin, is a look back at a glorious time in history when Rome was at its most splendid. The poet has visited the now gone physical remnants of the once powerful Empire and is awe inspired. The writer is amazed by the forms of buildings that once represented a rich nation filled with promise and delights.

He goes on to say that the marvels he sees are mostly in crumbles. A terrible event transpired to bring down the buildings and the people who lived among the sprawling metropolis. The men in the city had gold, silver, and many other kinds of wealth, but they too are gone. What remains are, presumably, piles and heaps of stone and tile as a testament to the grandness that once was. Interesting enough, the poem itself is fragmented. Part of the middle and what was the end have been lost. A few words can be pieced together in the missing sections, but nothing completely coherent. Despite that, the text mostly can be read and understood.

As for the city the poem describes, it lasted for a very long time. Houses were built, elaborate baths of luxury were used, and great walls constructed to keep it safe. Only after years of survival did the place become abandoned and fell apart. It is hard to say if the poet believed the end of the city happened all at once or over a long cycle of events. The poem could be interpreted to either use the word “fail” implying a quick loss and the word “days” a far longer period of time. They don’t have to necessarily have an opposite meaning. One can have a slow failure, but the abandonment seems all at once. Whatever the poet might have thought of the ruins now sitting dormant, it has a very tragic feeling to the dilapidated structures.

Both The Ruin and The Dream of the Rood take a look back at history that even at the time they were written was ancient. The former saw terrible events and consider them to have been leading up to a glorious future. The latter saw a glorious past and despaired at a tragic loss that can never return. Early English literature is filled with looking back in awe and wonder of what came before, with hope to return to such a condition either in the world or heaven. The world may have always been harsh, but war, poverty, and disease of their time seemed excruciating.  They sought to remember, rebuild, and repeat what they saw as a golden age lost in time.

What we can learn from these poems today is that no matter how far apart history might be, there is always a looking back at what came before and a hope for the future. The past may be glorious and it might be filled with destruction and horror. We can be both horrified and impressed by events and places from what seems like long ago. Think of it as the half filled and half empty glass of water. To someone who is thirsty it might not be very impressive and perhaps full of worry. On the other hand, they might be happy that there was any water to drink. Perspective is a very powerful source of human opinion and decision making. Where a door closes, another might be open. It is the oppositions in life that make it interesting. To be honest, the current era seems more like the pessimistic Ruin poem than the optimistic Dream of the Rood even if that poem deals with something far more horrible than crumbling buildings.

A final note on the poems as written. They are Old English Anglo Saxon, and do not read like the English we have today. For modern English speakers and readers it seems like a completely different language, but it is linguistically the same.

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How to Come Up With Story Ideas

Probably every successful writer gets the question from someone. The more creative the writer, the more insistent the question. Where does the idea(s) for a story originate? To those who don't write, it all seems like such a mystery. For them life is one day after another of the same boring experiences. They don't realize that story ideas can be found anywhere and in everyday circumstances. All it takes is putting unrelated things together to form a new combination. There are times when a concept doesn't work out and is abandoned, but when it does come together the results can be satisfying.

A fictionalized biography of J.K. Rowlings, Magic Beyond Words (2011), tried to portray the creative inspiration for her Harry Potter book. Despite an otherwise interesting movie, the situations that sparked her imagination felt false. The movie's representation of the creative process didn't come off as believable. Too many of the inspirations were over simplified coincidences. An object or person seen for the first time doesn't suddenly become a large part of the story, although they can have an impact. There is history behind creative ideas.

The truth is most creative ideas boil together and ferment over time, coalescing into a single narrative structure after lots of thought. Before that can happen, the writer must pay attention to their surroundings or look back on long lost memories. Consider that “creative work comes from noticing. You are being given a warning, an intimation of something, and that something is the creative urge, sometimes buried deep in your subconscious . . . material to uncover there, memories and associations to explore.” (Alice LaPlante, The Making of a Story. W.W. Norton & Co., 2007. pg 36). This can take conscious work. For instance, the movie scene where J.K. Rowling sits in a café with a writing pad presents too casual an instance of inspiration. She watches two people playing a chess match and then carefully writes a scene that would become famous. In real life she would feverishly be jotting down a spur of the moment idea. She wouldn't want to forget what came to mind, and it certainly wouldn't be seamlessly flowing from the previous text of the book on the same page.

More likely she remembered playing or watching others play chess over several years. Seeing two people playing the game while concentrating on the next story idea probably brought back memories that inspired her to incorporate into the book. There is also, for those who know the scene, a hint of Alice Through the Looking Glass that came to her while devising the living chess game. The importance of one chess game are exaggerated for story telling, but distorts true genius.

The history goes that J.K. Rowling was sitting in a commuter train gazing out of the window. She came up with the idea of Harry Potter while delayed for four hours returning to London from a trip. Apparently there are those who doubt the book idea came to her while on a train, although no other credible alternative is put forward. Her explanation of when and how the book idea came to her is realistic. To be sure, it didn't come all at the moment in full bloom. The kernel probably existed floating around since childhood. Whatever set the spark to set fire on the accumulated debris, there is no reason to disbelieve a train ride set the creative blood flowing and brought the book series to life. Stephen King, another bestselling author, wrote, “good story ideas seem to come seem to come literally from nowhere, sailing at you right out of the empty sky; two previously unrelated ideas come together and make something new under the sun. Your job isn't to find those ideas but to recognize them when when they show up.” (Stephen King, On Writing. Pocket Books, 2001. pg. 37). It is often during moments of reflection and boredom that daydreams can become projects given the right circumstances.

There is a common saying told to budding writers to “write what you know” as if it was a truism that could bring success. Whoever says this is either lazy in answering the concerns of new writers or deliberately wanting to avoid a deeper discussion. To become a good writer, a person should write about what they don't know. This might sound counter-intuitive, because if a writer doesn't know the topic then how can the information be accurate. Better advise would be write what you are interested in, and study if the topic is unfamiliar. The idea of fiction, for instance, is writing about not only something that we don't actually know but that is not real. Research is the busy and time consuming companion for any creative process. To write is self discovery for charting the unknown made knowable. The best words for generating story ideas is “what if” and then seeking to answer that question.

Getting at the heart of where story ideas come from; there is no magic formula. They can come from other books a writer enjoys, a dream that cannot be left alone ( like the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer), a conversation, a person's life, an experience to remember or reinterpret, a challenge accepted, new knowledge expanding old, and the list continues. A better question to ask an author, because it means having actually taken time with their work, is where did “that idea” or “that scene” come from. They will more than likely be happy to answer more specifics. Chances are there is going to be an illuminating description of the back story to the text. Still, don't be upset if the author responds a few times with “I don't know.” They probably don't. Sometimes the subconscious is a powerful tool in generating story ideas. All an artist can do is go with the creative flow. For those who are trying to come up with a story idea, it is best to ask themselves for what reason they want to write. Examine the details of past and present. Work with whatever comes comes from the answer, because that probably is the future story.