John the Baptist's Prayer or The Descent into Hell from the Exeter Book

Edition, translation and full critical study of a hitherto marginalised text, bringing it to full attention for the first time. The Old English poem known popularly as the Descent into Hell , found on folios 119v to 121v of the Exeter Book, has to date received little critical attention, perhaps owing to various contextual problems and lacunae on theleaves that contain it. This first full-length study offers a full account of the poem, together with an edition of the text and facing translation.