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Codex Regius
Codex Regius ( la, Cōdex Rēgius, "Royal Book" or "King's Book"; is, Konungsbók) or GKS 2365 4º is an Icelandic codex in which many Old Norse poems from the ''Poetic Edda'' are preserved. Thought to have been written during the 1270s, it is made up of 45 vellum leaves. The work originally contained a further eight leaves, which are now missing. It is the sole source for most of the poems it contains. In scholarly texts, this manuscript is commonly abbreviated as for Codex Regius, or as for Konungsbók. The codex was discovered in 1643, when it came into the possession of Brynjólfur Sveinsson, then Bishop of Skálholt in Iceland, who in 1662 sent it as a gift to King Frederick III of Denmark; hence the name. It was then kept in the Royal Library in Copenhagen until April 21, 1971, when it was brought back to Reykjavík, and is now kept in the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies. Because air travel at the time was not entirely trustworthy with such precious ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Codex Regius Of Eddaic Poems
The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with handwritten contents. A codex, much like the modern book, is bound by stacking the pages and securing one set of edges by a variety of methods over the centuries, yet in a form analogous to modern bookbinding. Modern books are divided into paperback or softback and those bound with stiff boards, called hardbacks. Elaborate historical bindings are called treasure bindings. At least in the Western world, the main alternative to the paged codex format for a long document was the continuous scroll, which was the dominant form of document in the ancient world. Some codices are continuously folded like a concertina, in particular the Maya codices and Aztec codices, which are actually long sheets of paper or animal skin folded into pages. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prose Edda
The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' ( is, Snorra Edda) or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often assumed to have been to some extent written, or at least compiled, by the Icelandic scholar, lawspeaker, and historian Snorri Sturluson 1220. It is considered the fullest and most detailed source for modern knowledge of Norse mythology, the body of myths of the North Germanic peoples, and draws from a wide variety of sources, including versions of poems that survive into today in a collection known as the ''Poetic Edda''. The ''Prose Edda'' consists of four sections: The Prologue, a euhemerized account of the Norse gods; ''Gylfaginning'', which provides a question and answer format that details aspects of Norse mythology (consisting of approximately 20,000 words), ''Skáldskaparmál'', which continues this format before providing lists of kennings and ''heit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar
"Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar" ("Lay of Helgi Hjörvarðsson") is a poem collected in the ''Poetic Edda'', found in the Codex Regius manuscript where it follows ''Helgakviða Hundingsbana I'' and precedes ''Helgakviða Hundingsbana II''. The portion of text which constitutes the poem is unnamed in the manuscript and may never have been intended to be viewed as a single poem, though scholars have assigned it a name for convenience. The text appears to be a patchwork of old poems, glued together with prose passages. The poem relates the story of Helgi Hjörvarðsson, loosely connected to the story of Helgi Hundingsbani. Storyline How Helgi's father won Helgi's mother The poem begins with a Norwegian king named Hjörvarðr. The king had four wives: Álfhildr with whom he had a son named Heðinn, a second by the name Særeiðr with whom he had the son Humlungr and a third called Sinrjóð by whom he had the son Hymlingr. The fourth wife is not mentioned, but she may be the girl Sigrl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helgakviða Hundingsbana I
"Völsungakviða" or "Helgakviða Hundingsbana I" ("The First Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane") is an Old Norse poem found in the ''Poetic Edda''. It constitutes one of the Helgi lays, together with ''Helgakviða Hundingsbana II'' and ''Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar''. The locations in the poem have been fervently debated with a Danish school maintaining Danish origins and locations and a Swedish one pointing out that locations (e.g. Brávellir and Brandey) and characters (Ylfings, Högni and Granmarr) place the events in Östergötland and Södermanland. The poem is also ambiguous in attributing Helgi to the Ylfing, Yngling and Völsung clans, which suggests a merging of originally unrelated traditions. In the Edda, the poem is a sequel to ''Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar'' whose heroes Helgi Hjörvarðsson and Sváfa are reborn as Helgi Hundingsbane and Sigrún. However, in Codex Regius, it is actually followed by ''Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar''. The poem begins in a location called ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alvíssmál
Alvíssmál (Old Norse: 'The Song of All-wise' or 'The Words of All-wise') is a poem collected in the ''Poetic Edda'', probably dating to the 12th century, that describes how the god Thor outwits a dwarf called Alvíss ("All-Wise") who seeks to marry his daughter. Plot Alvíss comes to Thor to claim Thor's daughter as his bride, saying that she had been promised to him earlier. Thor refuses as he had not been at home at the time, then tells Alvíss that he may take the young woman if he can correctly answer all of Thor's questions. The dwarf's replies act as an exhaustive list of the sentient mythological entities among men, Æsir, Vanir, jötnar, dwarfs, and elves. For example, the heavens have the following names, according to Alvíss: Ultimately, Thor confesses he was asking the questions to gain some time for the sun to rise and turn the dwarf into stone. Dating It is not known when Alvíssmál was created; analysis of its contents can point to multiple periods depending ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Völundarkviða
''Vǫlundarkviða'' (Old Norse: 'The lay of Völund'; modern Icelandic spelling: ''Völundarkviða'') is one of the mythological poems of the ''Poetic Edda''. The title is anglicized in various ways, including ''Völundarkvitha'', ''Völundarkvidha'', ''Völundarkvida'', ''Volundarkvitha'', ''Volundarkvidha'' and ''Volundarkvida''. Manuscripts, origins, and analogues The poem is preserved in its entirety among the mythological poems of the thirteenth-century Icelandic manuscript Codex Regius, and the beginning of the prose prologue is also found in the AM 748 I 4to fragment. The vocabulary and some of the formulaic phrasing of the poem is clearly influenced by West Germanic, with the strongest case being for influence specifically from Old English (a West Germanic dialect). It is thought likely, therefore, that ''Vǫlundarkviða'' was composed in, or otherwise influenced by traditions from, the Norse diaspora in England. This would suggest origins around the tenth or eleventh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Þrymskviða
''Þrymskviða'' (Þrym's Poem; the name can be Old Norse orthography, anglicised as ''Thrymskviða'', ''Thrymskvitha'', ''Thrymskvidha'' or ''Thrymskvida'') is one of the best known poems from the ''Poetic Edda''. The Norse mythology, Norse myth had enduring popularity in Scandinavia and continued to be told and sung in several forms until the 19th century. Synopsis In the poem ''Þrymskviða'', Thor wakes and finds that his powerful hammer, Mjöllnir, is missing. Thor turns to Loki first, and tells him that nobody knows that the hammer has been stolen. The two then go to the court of the goddess Freyja, and Thor asks her if he may borrow her feather cloak so that he may attempt to find Mjöllnir. Freyja agrees, saying she would lend it even if it were made of silver and gold, and Loki flies off, the feather cloak whistling. In Jötunheimr, the jötunn Þrymr sits on a Tumulus, burial mound, plaiting golden collars for his female dogs, and trimming the manes of his horses. Þr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lokasenna
''Lokasenna'' (Old Norse: 'The Flyting of Loki', or 'Loki's Verbal Duel') is one of the poems of the ''Poetic Edda''. The poem presents flyting between the gods and Loki. It is written in the ljóðaháttr metre, typical for wisdom verse. ''Lokasenna'' is believed to be a 10th-century poem. Loki, amongst other things, accuses the gods of moralistic sexual impropriety, the practice of '' seiðr'' (sorcery), and bias. Not ostensibly the most serious of allegations, these elements are, however, said ultimately to lead to the onset of Ragnarök in the Eddic poem ''Völuspá''. However, ''Lokasenna'' does not ''directly'' state that Loki's binding is as a consequence of the killing of Baldr. This is explicitly stated only in Snorri Sturluson's ''Prose Edda''. Lee M. Hollander, in his introduction to his translation of the poem, claims that it was in no sense a popular lay and suggests we should not necessarily believe that the accusations of the "sly god" were an accepted part o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hymiskviða
''Hymiskviða'' (Old Norse: 'The lay of Hymir'; anglicized as ''Hymiskvitha'', ''Hymiskvidha'' or ''Hymiskvida'') is a poem collected in the ''Poetic Edda''. The poem appears to have been first written down in the late 12th century.''Norse Mythology A-Z'' Summary The Æsir consult their augury twigs and decide, since Ægir owns a lot of kettles for making beer, that he should be their host frequently. Ægir has to reluctantly agree, but as this will be a lot of work, he makes a condition (that he hopes they won't be able to meet) that they bring a kettle large enough for him to make beer for all of them at once. That presents a problem, until Týr remembers a particularly large kettle in the possession of his father Hymir. So the Æsir set off. Eventually they find Hymir's place, where Þórr (Thor) eats so much that Hymir and his guests have no alternative but to go fishing. The poem then tells the story of how Þórr almost caught the Jörmungandr, which is also recounted in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hárbarðsljóð
''Hárbarðsljóð'' (Old Norse: 'The Lay of Hárbarðr') is one of the poems of the ''Poetic Edda'', found in the Codex Regius and AM 748 I 4to manuscripts. It is a flyting poem with figures from Norse Paganism. ''Hárbarðsljóð'' was first written down in the late 11th century but may have had an older history as an oral poem. Synopsis In this poem, the ferryman Harbard and the god Thor compete in a flyting or verbal contest with one other. The ferryman Hárbarðr (''Greybeard'') is rude and obnoxious towards Thor who is returning to Asgard after a journey in Jötunheimr, the land of the jötnar. Hárbarðr obstructs his way and refuses him passage across a swollen river. He begins by saying that Thor dresses poorly (in a beggars clothes, without pants) and that his mother is dead. In the course of the poem, Harbard boasts of his sexual prowess, his magical and tactical abilities, asking Thor about his. Thor responds, telling how he defeated Giants. Ultimately, after mocking hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skírnismál
''Skírnismál'' (Old Norse: 'The Lay of Skírnir') is one of the poems of the ''Poetic Edda''. It is preserved in the 13th-century manuscripts Codex Regius and AM 748 I 4to but may have been originally composed in the early 10th century. Many scholars believe that the poem was acted out, perhaps in a sort of '' hiéros gamos''. Synopsis The prose prologue to the poem says that the god Freyr, the son of Njörðr, sits in Odin's throne, Hliðskjálf and looked over all the worlds. On looking to Jötunheimr, the land of the giants, Freyr sees a beautiful girl, Gerðr, and is immediately seized by desire. Fearing that the object of his heart's desire is unattainable, gloom settles upon him. The poem itself starts with the wife of Njörðr, Skaði, bidding Skírnir to ask Freyr why he is so sad. Freyr's response is sullen, yet he does confess his feelings and asks Skírnir to undertake a journey to woo Gerðr on Freyr's behalf. Skírnir agrees, and Freyr furnishes him with his magi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grímnismál
''Grímnismál'' (Old Norse: ; 'The Lay of Grímnir') is one of the mythological poems of the ''Poetic Edda''. It is preserved in the Codex Regius manuscript and the AM 748 I 4to fragment. It is spoken through the voice of ''Grímnir'', one of the many guises of the god Odin. The very name suggests guise, or mask or hood. Through an error, King Geirröth tortured Odin-as-Grímnir, a fatal mistake, since Odin caused him to fall upon his own sword. The poem is written mostly in the ljóðaháttr metre, typical for wisdom verse. Structure and history The work starts out with a lengthy prose section describing the circumstances leading up to Grímnir's monologue. The monologue itself comprises 54 stanzas of poetic verse describing the worlds and Odin's many guises. The third and last part of the poem is also prose, a brief description of Geirröth's demise, his son's ascension, and Odin's disappearance. The prose sections were most likely not part of the original oral versions ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
