Introduction
‘The Dream of the Rood’ is an Anglo-Saxon poem, possibly composed by the 8th century bishop Cynewulf of Lindisfarne, in the Kingdom of Northumbria. The poet imagines what the Cross of Christ might say of that momentous Friday, when he who hung the earth upon the waters hung upon the cross.
“NOW the time has come for men far and wide upon this earth to have me in veneration, and for the whole, wonderful creation to make its prayers to this Standard.
“It was on me that the Son of God suffered for a time, so now I am lifted up on high beneath heaven’s roof, and may save the life of any man that stands in awe of me.* It was I who was the harshest of tortures and the most hateful of things to every nation, until I made the right Way of Life open to those who have the power of speech.
“And it was I whom the Prince of Glory, heaven’s Guardian, honoured above all the trees upon the hill,** just as he honoured his mother, Mary herself, above all women, for the sake of all the human race.”
Freely translated from the Old English
‘hælan’ means heal or save the life of. In John 3:14-15 Jesus likens his crucifixion to Moses lifting up the brazen serpent in the wilderness to heal snake bites.
** ‘the hill’ could be any hill, or it could be Calvary, where three crosses stood on that day.
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Word Games
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 High. Human. Race.
2 Hill. Mother. Son.
3 Glory. Man. May.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Confusables Find in Think and Speak
In each group below, you will find words that are similar to one another, but not exactly the same. Compose your own sentences to bring out the similarities and differences between them, whether in meaning, grammar or use.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
Homophones Find in Think and Speak
In each group below, you will find words that sound the same, but differ in spelling and also in meaning. Compose your own sentences to bring out the differences between them.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
mrns (5+3)
marinas. marines. maroons. morons. mourns.
merinos. moraines. morns.
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