The term Edda refers to two written collections of Norse mythology, The Poetic Edda and The Prose Edda, assumed to have been written in Iceland in the 13th century. The Prose Edda is a historical document and instruction manual on poetry, while The Poetic Edda is a collection of poems and songs. The origin of the word Edda is uncertain, but it is believed to derive from the Norse word for “poetry” or a combination of Latin and Icelandic words. The authorship of these texts is unclear, but they are believed to come from Norse ancestors in Norway or Iceland. The term Edda is often used to describe any of these poetic mythologies, although it technically applies only to The Prose Edda.
Edda is a term that applies to two written collections of Norse mythology known as The Poetic Edda and The Prose Edda. Both are assumed to have been written in Iceland around the 13th century. Most popular Norse mythology is based on these works.
There are some theories about the origin of the word Edda. Among them are meaning the word “great-grandmother” or meaning “the book of Oddi” which was an educational center of the time. The two most accepted theories are that it derives from the Norse word for “poetry” or that it is a combination of the Latin edo which means poetry and the Icelandic kredda which means superstition.
The Prose Edda, or The Younger Edda, is an Icelandic historical document of great importance. It is both a book of poetry and a kind of instruction manual, or treatise, on poetry. It was originally written around 1220 by Snorri Sturluson (1178-1241) and is therefore also called the Snorri Edda. The most important surviving manuscript dated to about 1300 is known as the Upsala Codex.
It contains three separate sections: the Gylfaginning or ‘Gylfi’s Deception’, the Skáldskaparmál or ‘Diction of Poetry’ and the Háttatal. Gylfaginning tells stories of creation and destruction by the gods and shares conversations between many of them. Skáldskaparmál has mythology stories among collections of famous Norse poetic paraphrases and synonyms. Finally, the Háttatal contained 102 stanzas, or sections of lyric poetry. Each of these is composed in a different meter and is followed by a commentary from an unknown source.
The Poetic Edda is also sometimes called The Elder Edda. It is a collection of poems or songs that include many classic tales from Norse mythology. There is talk of gods such as Odin and Thor as well as famous heroes and heroines such as Brynhildr and Gunnar. The 29 most important are included in the medieval Codex Regius.
The Codex Regius was discovered in 1634 by Bishop Brynjólf Sveinsson. It was not known where it came from or who wrote it. Since many of the poems were discussed by Snorri in The Younger Edda, the Bishop erroneously referred to it as the Edda. He also assumed, incorrectly, that the writer and priest Saemund wrote it.
It has since been assumed that the Codex Regius is written in the oral tradition, although there is no certainty as to the author or age. Scholars assume that those works of The Elder Edda were written between the 9th and 13th centuries and come from Norse ancestors, whether they come from Norway itself or from its settlements in Iceland. Due to confusion in the authorship between these two texts, the term Edda has become a term used to describe any of these poetic mythologies, although it technically applies only to the Snorri Edda.
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