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HARROWING OF HELL

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Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 29 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HARROWING OF See also:

HELL , an See also:English poem in See also:dialogue, dating from the end of the 13th See also:century. It is written in the See also:East Midland See also:dialect, and is generally cited as the earliest dramatic See also:work of any See also:kind preserved in the See also:language, though it was in reality probably intended for recitation rather than performance. It is closely allied to the kind of poem known as a debat, and the opening words—" Alle herkneth to me nou A strif wille I tellen ou Of Jesu and of Satan "—seem to indicate that the piece was delivered by a single performer. The subject—the descent of See also:Christ into Hades to succour the souls of the just, as related in the apocryphal See also:gospel of Nicodemus—is introduced in a kind of See also:prologue; then follows the dispute between " See also:Dominus " and " Satan " at the See also:gate of Hell; the gatekeeper runs away, and the just are set See also:free, while See also:Adam, See also:Eve, Habraham, See also:David, Johannes and Moyses do See also:homage to the deliverer. The poem Showing tooth mechanism of See also:harrow. ends with a See also:short See also:prayer: " See also:God, for his moder lone Let ous never thider come." Metrically, the poem is characterized by frequent See also:alliteration imposed upon the rhymed octosyllabic See also:couplet Welcome, louerd, god of londe Godes See also:sone and godes sonde (ii. 149-15o). The piece is obviously connected with the See also:Easter See also:cycle of liturgical See also:drama, and the subject is treated in the See also:York and See also:Townley plays.

End of Article: HARROWING OF HELL

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HARROWBY, DUDLEY RYDER, 1ST EARL, OF (1762–1847) 		[next]
HARRY THE MINSTREL, or BLIND HARRY (fl. 1470-1492)

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