Due Mar 4
Christian Warrior Culture
Preparatory: Several years ago, I made a short video introduction to get students in the right mind frame for this week’s reading and film: watch here. (In the last 30 seconds I make a remark about the movie’s final scene. If you hate spoilers, hit stop at 7:45.)
Reading: The Dream of the Rood, (.pdf on the course Blackboard site).
Viewing: Ingmar Bergman’s 1957 classic, The Seventh Seal: link. Make sure you turn on the English subtitles!
Writing: Respond to ONE of the following prompts. Keep your response short, posting as a reply under the appropriate heading in the comments section:
- Besides warfare, The Dream of the Rood makes frequent mention of precious metals and gemstones. Quote a line that does so and comment on what these materials seems to signify for our anonymous writer.
- Bergman’s film centers on the experience of the Black Death, which ravaged Europe in the Late Middle Ages. Focus our attention on a scene which features characters grappling with that ongoing tragedy, and comment on what the film seems to suggest about that “type” of person.
- Not every scene in the film focuses on the specter of death. Describe a scene that focuses elsewhere and comment on what it seems to be saying.
- Bergman’s movie is famous for its cinematography: “every frame a painting,” as the saying goes. Pause the movie at a vital moment and write a rich description of what you see. Then add a brief comment on what makes it visually striking or thematically powerful.
Gold and gemstones in The Dream of the Rood
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The line that stood out to me was “covered in gold; gems stood fair at the earth’s corners, and five there were up on the cross-beam.” At first I felt the line was just being decorative, but through further analysis I feel the gold could signify something deeper, the fact that the gold is wrapped around the cross that is an execution device, constantly covered in blood gives a glorious but gruesome tone. This could illustrate how in order to reach glory one must suffer, merging the two opposites together.
I agree with your thought that the gold and gems upon the cross carry meaning beyond being purely decorative. The use of gold and jewels stands for honor, power, and glory. By covering the Cross in gold and gems, they show that Jesus’ death was not a defeat but a victory. The beauty of the Cross represents Christ’s greatness and the idea that something painful and shameful can become something holy and triumphant.
One line is “all wet with gold” and decorated with gems. It seems odd at first because the crucifixion is assumed to be pretty painful and violent, rather than beautiful. However, i think it is the point since the poet wants to use something that can represent the suffering and that can cover it in gold and treasure, which might symbolise honor, loyalty, and victory. These materials seem to turn the Cross into something that is similar to a battle standard or a king’s treasure for the anonymous writer. Rather focusing merely on humiliation, the poem frames Christ’s death as something heroic and triumphant. The gold and gemstones dont deny the suffering but rather elevate it to suggest that what seems to be defeat is glory
One particular quote from the story that brings in the symbolization of gemstones and materials into quesiton is the line “I saw that eager beacon change garments and colors-now it was drenched, stained with blood, now bedecked with treasure”(20-23). I took this to mean that Christ would persevere and remain through this terrible tribulation with the jewels symbolizing a kind of strength from the Lord. I was initally confused about how this symbolization might work since the idea of Christ on the cross is often depicated as his weakest point but the story directly goes against that assertion. Instead it posits Christ as at his strongest point when he’s suffering the most on the cross, depicting him as a hero and survivor instead of someone defeated by his current predicatment. I found it to be an incredibly noble depiction of a moment that is commonly seen as incredibly harrowing and negative, turned into a symbol of heroism and lasting strength instead.
A particular line that stands out to me is “I saw the tree of glory honored in garments, shining with joys, bedecked with gold; gems had covered worthily the creator’s tree”. This line reminds of something we look at earlier in the semester. I think it was Gilgamesh but Im not 100% sure. There was a garden but instead of fruits everything was made of gemstone. This is symbolic both here and there because in that garden and at the creators tree anything mortal like fruit is irrelevant and something like gemstone, which are immortal, becomes more relevant to immortal figures like Jesus or the Mesopotamian gods. This has to do with gemstones value and the fact that food isn’t required to substain the immortal.
Characters grappling with death
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A painter draws images and depictions of the Black Death, basing them on what he has witnessed and on the experiences of the people around him. In one painting, he depicts a group of people who believe that the plague is a message from God. They go around whipping themselves, calling themselves “sinners”, trying to appease the Lord. This suggests that people have no understanding of what is happening or why it is happening. They are confused and not exposed to the world of science, so they resort to their Christian ideology or how the Black Death must be a sign from God. If all of their teachings come from the Bible, then that is what they use as a basis for their understanding. People are lost, frightened, and are going off of what they know to grapple with what is happening around them. This does make sense and is natural for humans to do, as this is a tragic crisis that they have never faced before. The unknown is scary.
I see where you’re coming from, but I think Bergman is being a bit harsher than that. The flagellants arent really portrayed sympathetically, it’s more unsettling than anything. And the priest feels less lost and more like he’s actively using people’s fear to control them. So to me the film isn’t saying these people are just doing their best, it’s more of a critique of how religion can weaponize suffering rather than actually help anyone through it.
A preacher leading the group of flagellants comes to the town and the main characters are witness to his angry harangue of the entire town. He shouts at people, seemingly disgusted by their viewing of the actor troupe’s performance, telling them that they are all vile sinners and are all doomed to die, specifically by the plague. The preacher is furious but there is also a strong undercurrent of despair in his angry speech because it suggests there is no hope for anyone. The film seems to suggest that people like this who give in to anger and despair or attribute the horrors of life to sin are misguided and perhaps need to seek a purpose, as Antonius Block does. The preacher is not framed as righteous in his speech; instead he seems like a figure who only adds to the darkness of the world by focusing on its sin, misery, and death.
Scenes that focus on stuff other than death
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“Every Frame a Painting”
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