It has long been observed that the core narratives of the Christian tradition have had a wide range of diverse realisations in vernacular writings. Two texts that depict in native terms the death of Christ as well as the obligations this death placed on devoted Christians are the Old Irish Poems of Blathmac and the Old English Dream of the Rood. The authors of these texts both express their interpretation of Christ’s crucifixion and death by means of ideology, imagery, and language that are rooted in native tradition. The texts frequently display common motifs and images. This essay will explore and compare the ways in which both poets apply the tenets of their respective cultures to their simultaneously diverse accounts of the betrayal, courage and demise of Christ; it will also examine the manner in which these poets operate within the parameters of their own languages, from the specifics of vocabulary and terminology to complex conceits and imagery, in order to articulate their own experience of Christ’s passion and death.