older poem, possibly of Cædmonian origin, as shown by the long
six-accent lines, has been worked over by Cynewulf, with additions, and
that it is "his last work" (p. 440). Certain lines of the poem, in the
Northumbrian dialect, are found on the Ruthwell Cross, which fact
complicates the question of origin. These are compared by Brooke (p.
337). The other upholders of the Cynewulfian authorship think that this
Dream, occurring in the early part of Cynewulf's religious life, led to
the longer and more highly finished poem, the ELENE, written near the
close of his life. The questions of the relationship of the poem to the
Ruthwell Cross and to the ELENE deserve further discussion. With these
is connected the question of date, and the poem has been placed all the
way from 700 to 800 A.D., even a little before and a little after,
possibly 675 to 825 A.D., so as yet there is no common agreement. The
similarity of thought in the personal epilogue (II. 122 ff.) to the
epilogue of the ELENE (II. 1237 ff.) is striking, and they may be
compared by the curious reader. The translation is made from the
Grein-Wülker text (Vol. II., pp. 116-125), with emendations from others,
as seen in the notes. All can agree with Kemble (_Codex Vercellensis_,
Part II., p. ix) that "it is in some respects the most striking of all
the Anglo-Saxon remains, inasmuch as a departure from the mere
conventional style of such compositions is very perceptible in it. It
contains some passages of real poetical beauty, and a good deal of
fancy." Brooke says (op. cit., p. 443): "This is the last of the
important poems of the eighth century. It is good, but not very good.
The older part, if my conjecture be right, is the best, and its
reworking by Cynewulf has so broken it up that its dignity is much
damaged. The shaping is rude, but the imagination has indeed shaped
it." ten Brink says (p. 53): "Cynewulf himself has immortalized this
vision in a poem, giving utterance to an irrepressible emotion, but
still exhibiting the delicate lines of a beautifully designed