Posted: Jul 20, 2008, 4:14 PM CST
Galactic_bodhi wrote:Rood has several distinct meanings, all derived from the same basic etymology.
"Rood" is an archaic word for "pole", from Anglo-Saxon rod "pole", specifically "crucifix", from Proto-Germanic *rodo, cognate to Old Saxon roda, Old High German ruoda "rod"; the relation of rood to rod, from Anglo-Saxon rodd "pole" is unclear; the latter was perhaps influenced by Old Norse rudda "club").
just found this lot;
Measurement of area or length
Specifically, rood is an Old English unit of area, equal to quarter of an acre, i.e. 10 890 square feet or 1011.7141056 m² (for the international inch) or about 10.1 are. A rectangular area with edges of one furlong and one rod respectively is one rood, as is an area consisting of 40 perches (square rods.) It is confusingly called an acre in some ancient contexts. The rood is an important measure in surveying on account of its easy conversion with the acre. Rood also refers to a British unit of linear measure between 16.5 and 24 feet. It is related to the German Rute (12.36 to 12.47 feet) and Denmark's rode (12.34 feet)[1]
[edit] Crucifix or cross
The rood on a rood screen: a crucifix on the elaborate 16th-century "jubé" in the church of St-Etienne-du-Mont, ParisIn the meaning "crucifix", rood usually refers to a sculpture or painting of the cross with Christ hanging on it. More precisely, "the Rood" refers to the Cross, the specific wooden cross used in Christ's crucifixion. The word remains in use in some names, such as Holyrood Palace and the Anglo-Saxon poem The Dream of the Rood. The phrase "by the rood" was used in swearing, e.g. "No, by the rood, not so" in Shakespeare’s Hamlet (Act 3, Scene 4).
In church architecture a rood screen is a wooden or stone screen, usually separating the chancel or choir from the nave. The screen may be elaborately carved and was often richly painted and gilded. It supported a large cross or crucifix (the rood), sometimes with attendant figures. Rood screens are not unique to Britain: they are found in Christian churches in many parts of Europe; they are the Western equivalent of the Byzantine templon beam , which developed into the Eastern Orthodox iconostasis. Some rood screens incorporate a rood loft, a narrow gallery which could be used by singers or musicians. An alternative type of screen is the Pulpitum, as seen in Exeter Cathedral, which is near the main altar of the church.
The rood itself provided a focus for worship, most especially in Holy Week, when worship was highly elaborate. During Lent the rood was veiled; on Palm Sunday it was revealed before the procession of palms and the congregation knelt before it. The whole Passion story would then be read from the rood loft, at the foot of the crucifix, by three ministers.
No original medieval rood now survives in a church in the United Kingdom [2]. Most were deliberately destroyed as acts of iconoclasm during the English Reformation and the English Civil War, when many rood screens were also removed. Today, in many British churches, the rood stair which gave access to the gallery is often the only remaining sign of the former rood screen and rood loft.