The unnamed narrator receives a mystical vision during the quietest hour of the night. Experiencing a profound sense of personal sinfulness and isolation, he witnesses a magnificent tree covered in gold and jewels. Moved by this vision and the story it imparts, he adopts the mission of sharing its spiritual message with the rest of humanity.

The Rood is the personified cross upon which Christ is crucified, functioning as both a narrator and a participant in the central story. Initially a peaceful tree in a forest, it is violently cut down by enemies and transformed into an instrument of punishment. It acts as Christ's loyal retainer, sharing in his physical agony by bleeding and sweating before being buried in a pit and eventually adorned in silver and gold.

Depicted as a heroic, chivalrous young warrior, Christ actively and willingly confronts his crucifixion to fulfill a divine plan. Instead of a weary victim, he races to the cross with bravado, engaging in a victorious battle for the salvation of humanity. Following his death and entombment in a gemstone-encrusted grave, he promises to return on Judgment Day to evaluate human deeds.

Mary is the mother of Christ. In the context of the Rood's message, she serves as a parallel figure of divine selection. Just as God chose Mary above all other women to fulfill a sacred purpose, he chose the Rood above all other trees in the forest.

Adam is the first human and the original transgressor in the Christian narrative. His fall from grace introduced suffering and mortality to humanity, creating the necessity for Christ's heroic sacrifice on the cross to offer humankind a path to heaven.

The Thanes are the loyal devotees and apostles of Christ. Acting in the tradition of Anglo-Saxon retainers, they gather at the site of the crucifixion to remove Christ from the cross. They construct a magnificent tomb carved from red garnet and quartz for their fallen leader, sing dirges in his honor, and eventually rescue the Rood from a pit to decorate it.

The Friends are former earthly companions of the speaker who rejected materialism to pursue a spiritual path. Having departed the mortal world, they now reside in heaven with God, representing the eternal companionship the isolated speaker hopes to achieve.

The Chatterers represent the bulk of humanity, engaged in noisy, ordinary secular life. They sleep through the quiet night hours, completely unaware of the spiritual vision unfolding before the speaker. They are the ultimate intended audience for the speaker's evangelical mission.