Lucifer is trapped in ice like the rest of the souls in the final circle of hell, and he has three faces in a perversion of the Trinity.
The cross in “The Dream of the Rood” suffers with Christ in the crucifixion.
In Canto V in the Circle of the Lustful, Francesca blames her falling into sin with Paolo on a book.
Virgil comes from Heaven to lead the pilgrim Dante through Hell.
According to the Introduction to “The Dream of the Rood,” the poem can be dated earlier than the 10th century because fragments of it were inscribed on the Ruthwell Cross.
In Canto 32, in the circle of the Traitors, the pilgrim Dante is still sympathizing with sin and the sinners the way he did in the circle of the lustful with Francesca and Paolo.
The account of the cross in the “Dream of the Rood” leaves the narrator sober but hopeful in his future with God.
The virtuous pagans in Limbo, the first circle of hell, don’t suffer physically but have to live in constant desire, without any hope.
The pilgrim Dante manages to get past three wild animals, but he still can’t find his way out of the dark woods in Canto 1 of The Inferno.