Papers by Brooks H . Romedy
Dies Legibiles Journal of Medieval Studies, 2021
This paper was written for the inaugural edition of Dies Legibiles, an undergraduate Medieval Stu... more This paper was written for the inaugural edition of Dies Legibiles, an undergraduate Medieval Studies journal out of Smith College. Their website and the full edition of the journal can be found here: https://sophia.smith.edu/dies-legibiles/previous-editions/first-edition-2020-21/
Abstract:
This analysis of the Old English poem The Dream of the Rood and its reflexes in material culture incorporates two major pursuits. The first is a reconstruction of a potential, contemporary impetus for religious experience perceived upon an encounter with any iteration of what I term the Roodcorpus; that is, the extant manifestations of a widespread poem, both temporally and spatially, known to us as The Dream of the Rood. This spiritual or religious experience is chiefly predicated on the Rood's retention of memory from its personal involvement in and experience of Christ's Crucifixion. My establishment of this Rood-corpus also provides a (to my knowledge) original hypothesis regarding the archetype that begat our extant versions of the poem. The second pursuit seeks to place The Dream of the Rood and the Rood-corpus more broadly in the context of their contemporary and nascent Cross Legends, specifically those that deal with the life of the True Cross before Christ. This second endeavor establishes a grander, more cosmic scope of the Christian salvation story encapsulated within the poem and, following the explication of memory's role in this body of literature, extends the roots of the Rood's memory back into the earliest days of the Bible. The cumulative effect of this study is to illuminate the constellation of meaning present within and surrounding the Rood-corpus and establishing the evocative milieu in which it was encountered.
Virginia Tech Undergraduate Historical Review, 2019
This paper follows the scholarly motives and methods of folksong collection in America during the... more This paper follows the scholarly motives and methods of folksong collection in America during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the context of their application in folk-revival movements and evolving racial thought. It includes original research conducted in the University of Virginia archives. The scholars, song-catchers, and musicians Francis J. Child, Cecil J. Sharp, and John Powell are highlighted as case-studies.
Citation: Romedy, B.H., 2019. Folksong Collection Practices: The Development of an Anglo-Saxon America. The Virginia Tech Undergraduate Historical Review, 8(1), pp.21–47.
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Papers by Brooks H . Romedy
Abstract:
This analysis of the Old English poem The Dream of the Rood and its reflexes in material culture incorporates two major pursuits. The first is a reconstruction of a potential, contemporary impetus for religious experience perceived upon an encounter with any iteration of what I term the Roodcorpus; that is, the extant manifestations of a widespread poem, both temporally and spatially, known to us as The Dream of the Rood. This spiritual or religious experience is chiefly predicated on the Rood's retention of memory from its personal involvement in and experience of Christ's Crucifixion. My establishment of this Rood-corpus also provides a (to my knowledge) original hypothesis regarding the archetype that begat our extant versions of the poem. The second pursuit seeks to place The Dream of the Rood and the Rood-corpus more broadly in the context of their contemporary and nascent Cross Legends, specifically those that deal with the life of the True Cross before Christ. This second endeavor establishes a grander, more cosmic scope of the Christian salvation story encapsulated within the poem and, following the explication of memory's role in this body of literature, extends the roots of the Rood's memory back into the earliest days of the Bible. The cumulative effect of this study is to illuminate the constellation of meaning present within and surrounding the Rood-corpus and establishing the evocative milieu in which it was encountered.
Citation: Romedy, B.H., 2019. Folksong Collection Practices: The Development of an Anglo-Saxon America. The Virginia Tech Undergraduate Historical Review, 8(1), pp.21–47.
Abstract:
This analysis of the Old English poem The Dream of the Rood and its reflexes in material culture incorporates two major pursuits. The first is a reconstruction of a potential, contemporary impetus for religious experience perceived upon an encounter with any iteration of what I term the Roodcorpus; that is, the extant manifestations of a widespread poem, both temporally and spatially, known to us as The Dream of the Rood. This spiritual or religious experience is chiefly predicated on the Rood's retention of memory from its personal involvement in and experience of Christ's Crucifixion. My establishment of this Rood-corpus also provides a (to my knowledge) original hypothesis regarding the archetype that begat our extant versions of the poem. The second pursuit seeks to place The Dream of the Rood and the Rood-corpus more broadly in the context of their contemporary and nascent Cross Legends, specifically those that deal with the life of the True Cross before Christ. This second endeavor establishes a grander, more cosmic scope of the Christian salvation story encapsulated within the poem and, following the explication of memory's role in this body of literature, extends the roots of the Rood's memory back into the earliest days of the Bible. The cumulative effect of this study is to illuminate the constellation of meaning present within and surrounding the Rood-corpus and establishing the evocative milieu in which it was encountered.
Citation: Romedy, B.H., 2019. Folksong Collection Practices: The Development of an Anglo-Saxon America. The Virginia Tech Undergraduate Historical Review, 8(1), pp.21–47.