"Edda" (;

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

''Edda'', plural ''Eddur'') is an

term that has been applied by modern scholars to the collective of two Medieval Icelandic literary works: what is now known as the ''

Prose Edda The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' () or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often considered to have been to some exten ...

'' and an older collection of poems (without an original title) now known as the ''

Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems in alliterative verse. It is distinct from the closely related ''Prose Edda'', although both works are seminal to the study of Old Norse ...

''. The term historically referred only to the ''Prose Edda'', but this usage has fallen out of favour because of confusion with the other work. Both works were recorded in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

during the 13th century in Icelandic, although they contain material from earlier traditional sources, reaching back into the

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

. The books provide the main sources for medieval

skald A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry in alliterative verse, the other being Eddic poetry. Skaldic poems were traditionally compo ...

ic tradition in

and for

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

Etymology

At least five hypotheses have been suggested for the origins of the word ''edda'': * One hypothesis holds that it is identical to a word that means "great-grandmother" appearing in the Eddic poem ''Rígsþula.'' * Another hypothesis holds that ''edda'' derives from Old Norse ''óðr'', "poetry". * A third, proposed in 1895 by Eiríkr Magnússon, is that it derives from the Icelandic place name '' Oddi'', site of the church and school where students, including

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...

, were educated. * A fourth hypothesis—the derivation of the word ''Edda'' as the name of Snorri Sturluson's treatise on poetry from the Latin ''edo'', "I compose (poetry)", by analogy with ''kredda'', "superstition", from Latin ''credo'', "creed"—is now widely accepted, although this acceptance might stem from its agreement with modern usage rather than historical accuracy.''Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages'' (2010) under "Snorri Sturluson" * The fifth hypothesis is based on the past fashion of giving Icelandic manuscripts bird titles. Such are the legal codes ''Grágás'' 'grey goose', ''Gullfjǫðr'' 'gold feather (quill?)', and ''Hryggjar-stykki'' 'a kind of duck'. Perhaps ''Edda'' was also one of such titles: ''Edda'' would be an appropriate 'pet name' of ''æðr'' (pronounced as �:ðrf.) 'eider duck'. Then, ''Edda'' meant 'little eider duck' (an analog of ''Grágás'').Liberman, Anatoly (2016). "The Origin of the Name Edda", in Anatoly Liberman, ''In Prayer and Laughter. Essays on Medieval Scandinavian and Germanic Mythology, Literature, and Culture''. Paleograph Press. .

The ''Poetic Edda''

The ''Poetic Edda'', also known as ''Sæmundar Edda'' or the ''Elder Edda'', is a collection of

poems from the

ic medieval

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

Codex Regius Codex Regius (, "Royal Book" or "King's Book"; ) 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 Vellum ...

("Royal Book"). Along with the ''

'', the ''Poetic Edda'' is the most expansive source on Norse mythology. The first part of the Codex Regius preserves poems that narrate the creation and foretold destruction and rebirth of the Old Norse mythological world as well as individual myths about gods concerning Norse deities. The poems in the second part narrate legends about Norse heroes and heroines, such as

Sigurd Sigurd ( ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon — known in Nordic tradition as Fafnir () — and who was later murdered. In the Nordic countries, he is referred t ...

Brynhildr Brunhild, also known as Brunhilda or Brynhild ( , , or ), is a female character from Germanic heroic legend. She may have her origins in the Visigothic princess and queen Brunhilda of Austrasia. In the Norse tradition, Brunhild is a shiel ...

and Gunnar. It consists of two parts. The first part has 10 songs about gods, and the second one has 19 songs about heroes. The Codex Regius was written in the 13th century, but nothing is known of its whereabouts until 1643, when it came into the possession of Brynjólfur Sveinsson, then the Church of Iceland's Bishop of

Skálholt Skálholt (Modern Icelandic: ; ) is a historical site in the south of Iceland, at the river Hvítá, Árnessýsla, Hvítá. History Skálholt was, through eight centuries, one of the most important places in Iceland. A bishopric was established ...

. At that time, versions of the ''

'' were well known in Iceland, but scholars speculated that there once was another ''Edda''—an ''Elder Edda''—which contained the

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

poems Snorri quotes in his book. When the Codex Regius was discovered, it seemed that this speculation had proven correct. Brynjólfur attributed the manuscript to Sæmundr the Learned, a larger-than-life 12th century Icelandic priest. While this attribution is rejected by modern scholars, the name ''Sæmundar Edda'' is still sometimes encountered. Bishop Brynjólfur sent the ''Codex Regius'' as a present to King

Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and King of Norway, Norway and List of rulers of Schleswig-Holstein, Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years and 330 days is th ...

, hence the name ''Codex Regius''. For centuries it was stored in the Royal Library in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

but in 1971 it was returned to Iceland.

The ''Prose Edda''

The ''Prose Edda'', sometimes referred to as the ''Younger Edda'' or ''Snorri's Edda'', is an

ic manual of poetics which also contains many mythological stories. Its purpose was to enable

ic poets and readers to understand the subtleties of

alliterative verse In meter (poetry), prosody, alliterative verse is a form of poetry, verse that uses alliteration as the principal device to indicate the underlying Metre (poetry), metrical structure, as opposed to other devices such as rhyme. The most commonly s ...

, and to grasp the mythological allusions behind the many

kenning A kenning ( Icelandic: ) is a figure of speech, a figuratively-phrased compound term that is used in place of a simple single-word noun. For instance, the Old English kenning () means , as does (). A kenning has two parts: a base-word (a ...

s that were used in

skaldic poetry A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry in alliterative verse, the other being Eddic poetry. Skaldic poems were traditionally compo ...

. It was written by the Icelandic scholar and historian

around 1220. It survives in four known manuscripts and three fragments, written down from about 1300 to about 1600. The ''Prose Edda'' consists of a

Prologue A prologue or prolog (from Ancient Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier st ...

and three separate books: ''

Gylfaginning ''Gylfaginning'' (Old Norse: 'The Beguiling of Gylfi' or 'The Deluding of Gylfi'; 13th century Old Norse pronunciation ) is the first main part of the 13th century ''Prose Edda'', after the initial Prologue. The ''Gylfaginning'' takes the form of ...

'', concerning the creation and foretold destruction and rebirth of the Norse mythical world; ''

Skáldskaparmál ''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'Poetic Diction' or 'The Language of Poetry'; ; ) is the second part of the ''Prose Edda'', compiled by Snorri Sturluson. It consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and Bra ...

'', a dialogue between

Ægir Ægir (anglicised as Aegir; Old Norse 'sea'), Hlér (Old Norse 'sea'), or Gymir (Old Norse less clearly 'sea, engulfer'), is a jötunn and a anthropomorphism, personification of the sea in Norse mythology. In the Old Norse record, Ægir hosts the ...

, a Norse god connected with the sea, and

Bragi Bragi (Old Norse) is the skaldic god of poetry in Norse mythology. Etymology The theonym Bragi probably stems from the masculine noun ''bragr'', which can be translated in Old Norse as 'poetry' (cf. Icelandic ''bragur'' 'poem, melody, wise' ...

, the

ic god of poetry; and ''

Háttatal The Háttatal (Old Norse: 'Tally of Metre (poetry), Metres'; c. 20,000 words; Old Norse: , Modern Icelandic: ) is the last section of the ''Prose Edda'' composed by the Icelandic poet, politician, and historian Snorri Sturluson. Using, for the mo ...

'', a demonstration of verse forms used in Norse mythology.

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Old Norse literature Norse mythology

Etymology

The ''Poetic Edda''

The ''Prose Edda''

See also

References

External links