Legend of the Rood
The Legend of the Rood (Latin: De ligno sancte crucis) is a complex of medieval tales loosely derived from the Old Testament.
In its fullest form, the narrative tells of how the dying Adam sends his son Seth back to Paradise to seek an elixir which will render him immortal. This part of the tale is sometimes referred to as "the Quest of Seth for the Oil of Life". The angel guarding the gates of Paradise refuses Seth access, but does give him a seed from the tree from which Adam and Eve had stolen the apple. On his return, Seth finds his father dead, but places this seed under his tongue and then buries him at Golgotha. A tree grows from the seed, which is cut down. The wood experiences many adventures, reappearing as a motif in popular renderings of many Old Testament stories. At one point it is a bridge over which the Queen of Sheba passes. Ultimately, it is made into the cross (Middle English: rood) on which Jesus is crucified.
The Legend of the Rood is a key component in the complex of motifs known as the Medieval popular Bible. It is found in many medieval Adam Books, and provides the central framework of works such as the Welsh Ystorya Adaf.
These narratives have been extensively studied by Beryl Smalley, Brian O. Murdoch, Robert Miller and others.
Medieval scholars tend to use the word "legend" solely as a translation of Latin legenda, meaning the biography of saints as a literary form, and hence are often reluctant to use the word too liberally in other contexts. However, as a set-phrase, "Legend of the Rood" has become familiar enough to be uncontroversial.
See also
- Book of the Penitence of Adam
- Dream of the Rood
- Medieval popular Bible
Literature
- Baring-Gould, Sabine (1868). Curious Myths of the Middle Ages. Vol. 2. London, Oxford and Cambridge: Rivingtons. p. 114.
- Butler, Pierce (1899). Legenda aurea =Légende dorée = Golden legend : a study of Caxton's Golden legend with special reference to its relations to the earlier English prose translation. Baltimore: John Murphy Company.
- de Varagine, Jacobus; Caxton, William (1931). Ellis, Frederick Startridge (ed.). The Golden Legend or Lives of the Saints as englished by William Caxton. Vol. 1. London: J. M. Dent and Sons. p. 180.
- Robert Miller, German and Dutch versions of the legend of the wood of the Cross before Christ, diss Oxford 1992.
- Napier, Arthur Sampson (1894). History of the Holy Rood-tree: A Twelfth Century Version of the Cross Legend. London: For the Early English Text Society. p. 1. (Begins with Moses)
- Veldener, Johann (1863). Berjeau, Jean Philibert (ed.). Geschiedenis van het Heylighe Cruys; or, History of the Holy Cross. London: C. J. Stewart. p. 39.
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- Cain and Abel
- Aclima
- Luluwa
- Seth
- Awan
- Azura
- Jumella
- Adam–God doctrine
- Adam and Eve in Mormonism
- Adam in Islam
- Adam in rabbinic literature
- Al-A'raf
- Book of Moses
- Endowment
- Manu (Hinduism)
- Mashya and Mashyana
- Serpent seed
- Tree of Jiva and Atman
- Tree of life (Quran)
- Our Lady of Endor Coven
- Mama's Affair (1921)
- Good Morning, Eve! (1934)
- The Broken Jug (1937)
- The Original Sin (1948)
- The Private Lives of Adam and Eve (1960)
- El pecado de Adán y Eva (1969)
- La Biblia en pasta (1984)
- The Annunciation (1984)
- Second Time Lucky (1984)
- Adipapam (1988)
- Adam (1992)
- Babs (2000)
- The Last Eve (2005)
- Year One (2009)
- The Tragedy of Man (2011)
- Adam and Dog (2011)
- Tropico (2013)
- Le Jeu d'Adam (12th century)
- The Broken Jug (1808)
- The Tragedy of Man (1861)
- The Creation of the World and Other Business (1972)
- The Apple Tree (1966)
- Dude (1972)
- Up from Paradise (1973)
- Children of Eden (1991)
- The Creation (1798)
- La mort d'Adam (1809)
- Ève (1875)
- Genesis Suite (1945)
- Lilith (2001)
- Apocalypse of Adam
- Book of Moses
- Book of Abraham
- Books of Adam
- Book of the Penitence of Adam
- Cave of Treasures
- "El amigo de Él y Ella"
- Genesis A and Genesis B
- Harrowing of Hell
- Life of Adam and Eve
- Testament of Adam
- Testimony of Truth (3rd century)
- Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan (6th century)
- "Old Saxon Genesis" (9th century)
- "Adam lay ybounden" (15th century)
- Paradise Lost (1667)
- Le Dernier Homme (1805)
- Extracts from Adam's Diary (1904)
- Eve's Diary (1905)
- The Book of Genesis (2009)
- The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve (2017)
- Bernward Doors (1015)
- Tapestry of Creation (11th century)
- Expulsion from the Garden of Eden (1425)
- Vienna Diptych (15th century)
- The Last Judgment (1482)
- The Garden of Earthly Delights (1504)
- Adam and Eve (1507)
- Paradise and Hell (1510)
- The Creation of Adam (1512)
- The Haywain Triptych (1516)
- Eve, the Serpent and Death (1510s or 1520s)
- Adam and Eve (1528)
- Adam and Eve (1550)
- The Fall of Man (1550)
- Adam and Eve (c. 1550)
- The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man (1617)
- The Fall of Man (1628)
- The Four Seasons (1660s)
- The Koren Picture-Bible (1692–1696)
- Paradise Lost (19th century)
- Expulsion from the Garden of Eden (1828)
- The First Mourning (1888)
- Adam and Eve (1905)
- Adam and Eve (1909)
- Eve (1931)
- Adam and Eve (1932)
- The Serpent Chooses Adam and Eve (1958)
- "Dese Bones G'wine Rise Again"
- "Adam-ondi-Ahman" (1835)
- "Forbidden Fruit" (1915)
- "The Garden of Eden" (1956)
- "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" (1968)
- "Let's Give Adam and Eve Another Chance" (1970)
- "Man Gave Names to All the Animals" (1979)
- The Cainian Chronicle (1996)
- Visions of Eden (2006)
- Snakes for the Divine (2010)
- Doraemon: Nobita's Diary on the Creation of the World
- Island of Love
- The Visitors
- "Adam & Eve" (1992)
- "Probe 7, Over and Out" (1963)
- "Simpsons Bible Stories"
- "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela"
- "Daesong Heavy Industries II: Return to Innocence"
- "Holly Bibble"
- Demon: The Fallen (2002)