Introduction
According to the bible Christ is depicted to be the same today, yesterday and forever. Nevertheless, the Poem Beowulf and The dream of the Rood depict the image of Christ to be changing throughout the ages. In the poem “The Dream of the Rood” which was written during Anglo-Saxon period described Christ burial and death in a different manner than that in the biblical accounts. In order for the poem to emphasize Jesus Christ crucifixion and triumph, the poem goes ahead to depict Christ as a violent warrior who courageously tackle and defeats sin (Richard, 2014). The form of depiction is similar to the courage and horror valued and expressed in the Beowulf. Despite the fact that the two poems were composed during the same period of time with the same agenda, the poem Beowulf was believed to be the longest poem with approximately more than three thousand lines while the Poem “The Dream of the Rood” was composed using about 156 lines. The role of the work is to compare and contrast the poems “The Dream of the Rood” and Beowulf.
Comparison of the poems “The Dream of the Rood” and Beowulf
Both “The Dream of the Rood” and Beowulf poems are similar because the characters used in the poems meet their death similar manner. As a matter of fact the characters in both poems were fighting for similar things. The characters were fighting for the sake of protecting others. In the poem Beowulf, the Beowulf was fighting a dragon in the society that was harming others. In similar terms, in the poem “The Dream of the Rood,” Christ who was the main character was fighting sin which was a dragon that destroyed the life of the people in the society (Kevin, 2010). Basically, both the sin and dragon were dangerous for the life of the mankind. Nonetheless, according to both poems in order for the wickedness to die in the society it was important for both Christ and Beowulf to die in order for them to be declared victorious.
Moreover, both poems depicted the death of Christ the same way it happened during the crucifixion. In the poem Beowulf, his death was received by other people in the same way that of Christ was received. The people beside Beowulf who had the power to defeat the dragon were coward and weak to assist him defeat it. If the people beside Beowulf have assisted him, he would have managed to defeat the dragon or even saved him from the torture (Richard, 2014). In similar way as depicted in the poem, “The Dream of the Rood” the Disciples of Christ abandoned him when He was being punished and at the time of need. In addition, during the Christ crucifixion his admires who were belittling him came to mourn for his body the same way it happened with Beowulf. It was ironic that those people who were coward to assist and save Christ were in the forefront to mourn Christ and Beowulf death.
Both the “The Dream of the Rood” and Beowulf poems had common parallels. Both poems were written during the same period and involved many warrior and heroic like characters with similar religious themes. Basically, the poems were narrated by unfamiliar sources but they were eloquently worded. Both the “The Dream of the Rood” and Beowulf poems had common parallels. Both poems were written during the same period and involved many warrior and heroic like characters with similar religious themes. Basically, the poems were narrated by unfamiliar sources but they were eloquently worded. The main characters in both poems were trustworthy, loyal, strong, and courageous and finally accomplished their goals through death or victory. In both poems, all these traits were revealed by the Cross, Beowulf and Jesus Christ in similar ways and terms. In the poems, both the Cross and Beowulf are portrayed as heroic and heroic and loyal while Beowulf and Jesus Christ are portrayed as savior and warrior (Richard, 2014). As a matter of fact, both poems reveal that loyalty is a significant quality in life because being loyal is similar to being faithful to the government, life, special cause and religion. Acting in loyalty meant acting in a respectful, truthful and honest way. As depicted in the poems, loyalty enables a person to remain true to his or her beliefs, stick to the truth and achieve ones goal just like Beowulf and Jesus Christ revealed the goodness they were born with.
Both the “The Dream of the Rood” and Beowulf poems revealed that both Christ and Beowulf were not willing to leave their throne of power despite going through a lot of hardship in their life. The poem “The Dream of the Rood” fails to mention the inability of the Christ to shoulder the cross’s weight in order not to depict Christ not to be a warrior (Kevin, 2010). In the same way, despite the fact that Beowulf was being considered to be a warrior there are instances in his life where he was disappointed and could not manage to attain victory but he encouraged himself to hedge forward. Although “The Dream of the Rood” did not genuinely depict Christ as a warrior who would be defeated, the poem Beowulf went ahead to show that just like mankind, Beowulf would also be defeated and fear.
In contrast to the biblical burial where Jesus Christ was given a simple, timely, efficient, and humble burial, in both the “The Dream of the Rood” and the Beowulf poem both the characters were offered a befitting warrior burial. In the “The Dream of the Rood,” the Old English society placed the body of Christ in a sepulcher, wretched it with eventide and sang funeral songs for Him. In the same way Beowulf was also befitted with a memorable burial as the society considered him to be a warrior and a hero in the society. According to the Beowulf poem, being a hero he was entitled to receive a befitting send-off as a thanks giving for the role he had played in the society. The befitting sendoff in both the “The Dream of the Rood” and Beowulf poem is a clear indication that both Christ and Beowulf were respected figures in the society who were supposed to be honored and respected for their great contribution towards civilization of the society.
The Christ image as a warrior in the poem “The Dream of the Rood” is an illustration of the optimistic manner rather than pessimistic manner of the medieval Christians of understanding and embracing Christ crucifixion. With Christ crucifixion, the human beings felt guilt for he had died for the sake of their sins. Nevertheless, crucifixion in the poem “The Dream of the Rood” is reassuring and hopeful that Christian would resurrect just like Christ resurrected. The purpose of the poem was to illustrate the victory that was won by Christ over their sins (Kevin, 2010). Most historians believes that both the “The Dream of the Rood” and Beowulf poems were composed for the sake of missionary purpose. They were composed using heroic character for the sake of catching the warriors’ imagination so that the society of the time would willingly embrace the Christian doctrine. The poems had evangelism appeal which emphasized than human being could get salvation through Christ triumph on the cross.
The differences between “The Dream of the Rood” and Beowulf
The “The Dream of the Rood” poem has been regarded by most scholars to be the finest poem that expresses the theme of Crucifixion in the Anglo-Saxon period. Despite the fact that it focuses of themes common in the old English poetry, the poem is unique in the way it describe the image of the Cross within the context of the vision dream (Gavin, 2013). The people has therefore been regarded to be philosophical because it has been used as a vehicle for theological doctrine which illustrates in a brilliant way the monastic way of life of the Old English society. Although the poem “The Dream of the Rood” was only narrated using 156 lines long, its complexity and depth made it a popular poem significant for the twenty first century.
On the other hand, the poem Beowulf is the greatest and longest surviving Old English poem narrated to the Anglo- Saxon Society. The setting of the poem is believed to be around sixth century. Unlike the poem “The Dream of the Rood,” it begins with a short lineage of the Dane royal dynasty. The poem narrate about the deed of a Scandinavian prince by the name Beowulf and also reflected on the worlds of Swedes, Danes and Geats who were highly civilized, rigidly feudal, newly Christian and violent. The poem is believed to be composed of Christian content because it was narrated during the paganism conversion period. The poem was quite different from the other forms of poems because it consisted of 3, 182 lines which is the longest poem in the world of poetry.
The Poem “Beowulf” depicted Beowulf as having more human characteristics than Christ unlike the poem “The Dream of the Rood” which depicted Christ to be having more heroic-like qualities. In the poem Beowulf, the character was depicted to be “Glitter and glide” which is a typical character of a hero. Nonetheless, in the poem “The Dream of the Rood,” Christ is depicted as a character full of humility and honor (Kevin, 2010). Therefore, the character of Christ in both poems are different in one way or the other because in the poem Beowulf the character is seen to be superior than Christ but in the “The Dream of the Rood” despite Christ emerging to be a hero he did it in humility.
In the “The Dream of the Rood” Jesus was so much courageous because he climbed onto the cross himself. The Cross in the poem signified Christ as a warrior who was not ready to give up with his fight. He never engaged into a fight just like Beowulf who used to fight the dragon using his personal strength. Christ basically humbled himself for him to be crucified on the cross despite the fact that he had the power to resist but Beowulf used his strength to ravage and fight the dragon before it had died (Richard, 2014). Despite the fact that both Jesus and Beowulf died for the sin and sake of others Jesus was much concerned with the sinners than Beowulf. Therefore, it takes great strength and courage to die for others and ones belief and this is what exactly what Beowulf and Jesus did.
In the “The Dream of the Rood” poem, Jesus was referred to be a hero because he fought his foes for the sake of his faith with the support if the Cross. Nonetheless, in the Beowulf poem the Anglo-Saxon period people thought the warriors to be men who were fantastic heroes in the society (Clark, 2011). Despite the fact that the Beowulf poem is believed to be “The strongest of all men to have ever seem the light of life on earth” (778-779), it fails in character representation because it considered Beowulf to be superior to other beings in the society. In the poem, Beowulf described his heroism nature by reciting some of the battles at the sea in the mead-hall when he had a verbal conflict with Unferth. Although Christ in the Cross in the poem “The Dream of the Rood” was depicted as a hero and a warrior, in reality He was a true worrier who emerged victorious after defending the life of others, belief and defending his faith. In addition, it was through his death and resurrection that we were able to be cleansed our sins.
The words used to illustrate Christ crucifixion in the poem “The Dream of the Rood” reveals that the poet of the poem has a conscious choice of portraying Jesus as a courageous warrior. Rather than just using the word Christ in the poem to describe Jesus, the poet decided to call him “the warrior” or “the young hero.” These words revealed the clear images of Christ as a person of honor and respect (Gavin, 2013). Nevertheless, in the poem Beowulf, the main character Beowulf is praised to be the hero, valiant warrior and hero. The poet presents him as a daring, vigor, strength and an individual with the potential and power to resolve conflict in the society.
The tone of both poems was different because the poem “The Dream of the Rood” portrays Christ to be willing to approach the cross. The poem claims that when Jesus was on his way to be crucified he hastened as he was willing to be crucified in order to emphasize he was still the warrior and was ready to die for the sake of mankind and that the mankind would be redeemed onto the Christ (Clark, 2011). The poem “The Dream of the Rood” emphasizes that Christ voluntary accepted to be crucified for the sake of mankind. On the other hand, when Beowuif was preparing for a batter with the mother of Grendel he was dreadful for his own life. In the poem Beowuif, he said that he said that “I am eager to begin!”(14) Unlike Christ in “The Dream of the Rood” who boldly mounted onto the cross. For Christ he joined the faith battle with courage but for Beowulf he plunged into the war with great eagerness.
Conclusion
Both the “The Dream of the Rood” and Beowulf had both similarities and differences. As a matter of fact, “The Dream of the Rood” was similar to Beowulf because it presents Jesus as a hero who had come to the world as a courageous, trustworthy, and faithful and honored for the sake of humankind redemption. Similarly, the Beowulf is a poem of heroism and victorious. It indicates Beowulf to be a hero in the society despite going through difficult life. Nevertheless, both poems were different because Christ figure in “The Dream of the Rood” is different from Beowulf figure. Christ is believed to voluntary accept to be crucified for the sake of mankind sins but Beowulf is dreadful to engage in battle for the sake of mankind. The “The Dream of the Rood” is a short poem with about 156 lines but Beowulf poem is the longest poem with 3182 lines.
References
Gavin, B. (2013)”The Dream of the Rood” Anglo-Saxon Poetry”. Oxford: Clarendon Press
Kevin, C.(2010). The Battle of Maldon and Other Old English Poems. Toronto: MacMillan Publishers.
