The Dream of the Rood Key Facts

• Title: The Dream of the Rood
• [In this poem, the narrator is having a dream. In this dream or vision he is speaking to the Cross on which Jesus was crucified.]
• Author: Anonymous
• Manuscript Source: The poem survives in the Vercelli Book, which is dated to the tenth century
• Verse Form: Alliterative Verse
• Genre: Christian Poem/Dream Poetry

“Rood” originated from the Old English word, “rōd” meaning pole. It is a reference to the “crucifix” on which Christ accepted his glorious death.