Together with the poetic edda, it comprises the major store of scandinavian mythology. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. His was the genius which may have composed some of the great poems the poetic edda. In the thirteenth century, snorri sturluson 11791241 maae qn attempt to infuse new interest in the art of skaldic poetry. Its gods live with the tragic knowledge of their own impending destruction in the cataclysmic battle of. The prose edda forms the basis of what the world knows as norse mythology, and contains legends of the creation of the cosmos and the bestknown stories of odin, thor, and the other gods. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read edda. The work is also known, variously, as snorri s edda, snorri sturlusons edda, the younger edda, and the prose edda. He then explains the ornate diction of the ancient skaldic poets and explains the great variety of poetic metres used in skaldic read more.
To the modern reader, this gives the negotiation a moral quality, as if founded on some higher principle of honesty or oathtaking. Snorri sturluson edda viking society web publications. Snorri article about snorri by the free dictionary. That one too is numbered among the esir whom some call the slanderer of the esir and originator of deceptions and a stain of the esir and humans. Although snorri was a christian, he treated the ancient pagan mythology with great respect. Where the notes seem to the reader insufficient, we must refer him to our norse mythology, where he will, we trust, find much of the additional information he may. Snorri sturluson simple english wikipedia, the free. A large part of what we know about nordic mythology stems from his edda. The only english translation to include the complete work a musthave for all students of early norse literature. Mar 21, 2017 snorris edda was later nicknamed the younger edda because much of it derives from older sources. Snorri sturluson hattatal viking society web publications. Snorri sturluson also spelled snorre sturlason was an icelandic historian, poet and politician. Read online edda and download edda book full in pdf formats.
A photo mosaic picture is made up of tiny photos which are fitted together in such a way that, from a distance, they blend together to create the appearance of a new picture. Here is an english version of snorres edda, also called the younger edda. The names of gods and goddesses in snorri sturlusons edda. He wrote a number of books, including one best known as the prose edda, which contains a great deal of scandinavian mythological material. In this work snorri arranges and recounts the legends of norse mythology in an entertaining way.
The prose edda, also known as the younger edda, snorri s edda icelandic. Jan 10, 2019 gylfaginning, or the tricking of gylfi, is the first part of snorri sturlusons prose edda. Some researchers believe snorri based it largely on folkloric oral traditions that he may have heard, while others think he used an elder written edda. This is an excellent translation of snorri sturlusons prose edda. Codex wormianus, fourteenth century, named from ole worm, from whose hands it passed, in 1706, into the hands of arni magnusson. Hence the prose edda is of interest because it contains one of the first attempts to devise a rational explanation for mythological and legendary events. The main component of this book is a facing page translation. It is essentially a collection of four sections interspersed with excerpts from earlier skaldic and eddic poetry containing tales from norse mythology. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the icelandic parlia. Also called snorres edda, or the prose edda by snorri sturluson. A similar combination of scholarly and imaginative talent is seen in the prose edda c. The name is not found as the heading of this part of the text in any early manuscript r and w have large ornamental initials at 12, though. The older poems of the poetic edda were snorri s sources for a large part of his edda, consisting of three parts.
The function of loki in snorri sturlusons edda stefanie. Also known as the younger edda or snorri s edda, the prose edda is a threepart work composed or at least compiled by thirteenthcentury icelandic scholar snorri sturluson. But the next night was clear, and the master at once read in. Snorri, a descendant of the great poet and hero of the egils saga, egill skallagrimsson, was brought up at oddi from the age of three in the home of jon loptsson, the most influential. Over a period of twenty years, snorri sturluson, scholar, courtier and poet, compiled the prose edda as a textbook for young poets who wished to praise kings. Deeper linguistic and metalinguistic levels of meaning may be fathomed by those who work closely with the old norse text. To this end, snorri created a quasihistorical backstory for the norse gods. These names were introduced to distinguish it from a collection of mythological and heroic poetry which early modern scholars, for no solid reason, dubbed saemunds edda, after a mistaken attribution. The prose edda snorri sturluson audiobook and ebook all. The younger eddasnorri sturlusonfree downloadpdf epub. Download snorri sturlusons the younger edda for your kindle, tablet, ipad, pc or. A big plus is the fact that the book contains both the original names of characters in old icelandic, and a translation in english.
Snorri s authorship of the poem is unequivocally confirmed both by attribution in the earliest manuscript u and by the attribution to him of. With a few exceptions, i think that the author did a good job of allowing a useful rendition of this th. The translation was rendered as clearly and as accurately as possible. Along with the elder or poetic edda written by an unknown poet a halfcentury earlier, the prose edda is a major source of much older norse mythology as it had evolved. Challenging eurocentric theories of migration, azerbaijan international, vol. Snorri sturluson 1178 september 23, 1241 was an icelandic historian, poet and politician.
Of all published articles, the following were the most read within the past 12 months. Prose eddagylfaginning wikisource, the free online library. Snorra edda or simply edda, is an old norse work of literature written in iceland in the early th century. What those sources were is a matter of speculation. Snorri was a great poet as well as a great writer, and he. The younger edda, also known as snorres edda, or the prose edda, is a collection of old norse poems preserved by snorri sturluson 11791241. The prose edda brodeur translation snorri sturleson 1178 1241, translated by arthur gilchrist brodeur 1888 1971 also known as the younger edda or snorri s edda, the prose edda is a threepart work composed or at least compiled by thirteenthcentury icelandic scholar snorri sturluson. The second part of the prose edda is called the skaldskaparmal and the third hattatal. The gylfaginning deals with the creation and destruction of the world of the norse gods, and many other aspects of norse mythology. In this work, snorri discriminatingly selected the most authentic elements from written and oral sources and. Intended to be a handbook in skaldic poetry, it preserves invaluable mythological tales that were on the verge of being forgotten even in sturlusons time. The most famous medieval icelandic writer was snorri sturluson 11791241. Snorri sturluson edda prologue and gylfaginning edited by anthony faulkes second edition viking society for northern research university college london 2005. He was the author of the prose edda or younger edda and the heimskringla, a history of the norwegian kings that begins with legendary material and moves through to early medieval scandinavian history.
The function of loki in snorri sturlusons edda history. His heimskringla, also called orbis terrarum, is a history of norway from ancient times to 1177. He was threetime elected lawspeaker at the icelandic parliament, the althing. Snorris prose edda, also called the younger edda, is the most important source on ancient icelandic mythology and skaldic poetry.
Snorra edda or, historically, simply as edda, is an old norse work of literature written in iceland during the early th century. History of the norwegian kings, undoubtedly the best history written in the middle ages, a large book without a dull page, packed full of thrilling incidents and shrewd characterizations. Along with snorri sturlusons prose edda, the poetic edda is the most important extant source on norse mythology and germanic heroic legends. Firstly, one must appreciate that this is snorri s edda the prose edda, and will appeal mostly to those who have an avid interest or appreciation of nordic mythology. His book has an introduction, notes, a vocabulary, and an index added to the contents below. Snorri sturluson, article by jonas kristjansson at snorrastofa. Snorri sturluson, icelandic poet, historian, and chieftain, author of the prose edda and the heimskringla.
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