The prose edda of snorri sturlson translated by arthur gilchrist brodeur 1916 the prose edda is a text on old norse poetics, written about 1200 by the norwegian poet and politican snorri sturlson, who also wrote the heimskringla. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. Old norse source for the prose edda comes from heimskringla. There simply isnt enough extant, wellpreserved material to. Snorra edda or simply edda, is an old norse compilation made in iceland in the early th century. Though hattatal is formally addressed to the rulers of norway, its didactic purpose as an aid and encouragement to other poets and its intended icelandic audience are obvious.
Poetic edda is the modern attribution for an unnamed collection of old norse anonymous poems, which is different from the edda written by snorri sturluson. On the first element, heimskringla is is of enormous importance in both mythological and historical studies relating to viking and medieval scandinavia. Together with the poetic edda, it comprises the major store of pagan scandinavian mythology. The younger edda contains the systematized theogony and cosmogony of our forefathers, while the elder edda presents the odinic faith in a 28 series of lays or rhapsodies. He twice visited norway, and a large part of his work consists of lives of its early kings. The work is often assumed to have been written, or at least compiled, by the icelandic scholar, lawspeaker, and historian snorri sturluson c. The sagas commonly referred to as the prose edda, or younger edda. Snorra edda is a compilation of old norse legends traditionally attributed to the the th century icelandic scholar snorri sturluson. Snorri sturluson 11791241 icelandic poet, prose writer, and historian. He was elected twice as lawspeaker to the icelandic parliament, the althing. Snorri sturluson the catholic encyclopedia religionfacts. For the construction of the name a patronymic, see icelandic naming conventions.
The conversion of cultural capital in medieval scandinavia. Icelandic historian and chieftain whose works include heimskringla, a series of sagas, and the prose, or younger, edda. However, it does not contain reliable statements until the history, which extends to 1177, reaches a late period, while the descriptions of the primitive era. Snorra edda or simply edda, is an old norse work of literature written in iceland in the early th century.
Snorri sturluson snorre sturlason 1179 hvamm, islanti 23. Anthony faulkes, copenhagen 1985 early icelandic manuscripts in facsimile xv. It is the only one of his works that can be dated with some accuracy. The prose edda is a text on old norse poetics, written about 1200 by the icelandic poet and politican snorri sturlson, who also wrote the heimskringla. Originally known simply as the edda, its later title differentiates it from collections based on the codex regius, which became known as the poetic edda. The codex regius is arguably the most important extant source on norse mythology and germanic heroic. Brodeur, arthur gilchrist, 1888publication date 1916 topics mythology, norse publisher. He was the author of the prose edda or younger edda, which consists of gylfaginning the fooling of gylfi, a narrative of norse mythology, the skaldskaparmal, a book of poetic. The edda, known as snorra edda, is generally believed to be the oldest of snorris writings. The work is often assumed to have been written, or at least compiled, by the icelandic scholar and historian snorri sturluson. The heimskringla and the prose edda of snorri sturluson. The prose edda is a sort of handbook of norse mythology and poetics, mainly in prose, but citing large amounts of verse, usually to illustrate its points.
On the other hand he is probably the author of the younger edda called snorraedda, which was intended as a textbook of the art of poetry. Snorri sturluson, born 1179, hvammur, icelanddied sept. English no longer features this type of name, except as a foreign word. Beginning with the dim prehistory of the mythical gods and their descendants, heimskringla recounts the history of the kings of norway through the reign of olaf haraldsson, who became norways patron saint. Snorri sturluson academic dictionaries and encyclopedias. Heimskringla is the account of the kings of norway, starting with the norse god odin as a great general and wizard and centered around the story of st. Snorra edda or, historically, simply as edda, is an old norse work of literature written in iceland during the early th century. Hann var einnig hofundur heimskringlu er segir sogu norsku konunganna og hefst.
It takes the form of a working edition of the mythological poems of the ancient norse poetic edda for modern pagans who practice the magic and religion of the north. Once found in most homes and schools and still regarded as a national treasure, heimskringla influenced the thinking and literary style of scandinavia over several centuries. The prose edda contains a wide variety of lore which a skald poet of the time would need to know. The english translation chosen for the prose edda is by arthur gilchrist brodeur, from a 1916 publication that is now in public domain. Together with the poetic edda, it comprises the major store of scandinavian mythology. So after diving headlong into ancient norse mythology and history, by way of the heimskringla, the poetic edda, and sagas of icelanders in turn, ive become ever more interested in the subject and medieval literature generally.
Snorri definition of snorri by the free dictionary. The work is often assumed to have been written, or at least compiled, by the. The prose edda, also known as the younger edda or snorris edda icelandic. Snorri sturluson the old norse icelandic spelling of the name is snorri sturluson. Snorris importance rests on his literary works of which heimskringla the world is the most important, since it is the chief authority for the early history of iceland and scandinavia. The younger edda may in one sense be regarded as the sequel or commentary of the elder edda. These names were all coined to distinguish it from. The heimskringla of snorri sturlason is a collection of sagas concerning the various rulers of norway, from about a.
Snorre sturlason is the modern norwegian and snorre sturlasson the modern swedish spelling. The prose edda is a collection of norse mythology and epic poetry. Prose edda project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. Its first part, gylfaginning relates the mythology of the north in an interesting, pictorial manner, and is a compilation of the songs of the early scalds, the songs of the common people, sagas, and. Compares and contrasts heimskringla with one of snorris chief sources, morkinskinna. The sections of this copy introduction, text, and theses have been mixed up in the binding process. The elder edda is poetry, while the younger edda is mainly prose. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the icelandic medieval manuscript known as the codex regius, which contains 31 poems. A standard edition of snorra edda, based mainly on codex regius. Snorris account begins with a mythological account of the gods euhemerized as in edda in the ynglinga saga, and then goes through the history of the kings of norway starting with harald. Edda illustrated kindle edition by sturluson, snorri. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page.
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