Ayla Fudala

on translating Unknown

This is a translation of the first thirty-one lines of “The Dream of the Rood,” believed to be the oldest Anglo-Saxon poem. I chose to focus my translation on the physicality and shifting nature of the Rood itself. The most significant change I made to the poem in order to highlight this physicality was to arrange the lines so that they created the shape of a cross. I wanted the poem to emulate the Ruthwell Monument, in which form and content are similarly united. The cross is only clearly defined on the left side, with the right side (where the Rood begins to bleed) left uneven, as though in the process of shifting its shape or dissolving. This emphasizes the constantly changing identity of the Rood — one moment a tree, the next moment a cross, and given a human voice throughout.

I also used language within the poem to bring out the multiplicity of the Rood’s nature, using the words and phrases “robed,” “flank,” “soaked with sweat,” “weeping blood,” and “armored” to suggest that the Rood itself also symbolizes a human body capable of both joy and suffering. In addition, I attempted to create yet another form for the Rood — that of a sword — by using the word “sheathed.” The Rood is a warrior, just as Christ — as described in this poem — is a warrior, not a meek victim. The Rood’s own story and body parallel the story and body of Christ: a lowly origin, suffering inflicted by malicious men and courageously endured, and a glorious finale as a worshiped figure ascending into heaven.