Few books from medieval Europe match the enduring influence of the Prose Edda, known in Icelandic as Snorra Edda. Produced in Iceland during the early 13th century, it became a blueprint for understanding the mysterious Norse gods and the poetic forms favoured by Icelandic storytellers.
The man most often associated with this work is Snorri Sturluson, a prominent Icelandic historian, politician and poet. Scholars generally agree Snorri wrote or at least compiled the Edda around 1220, drawing together influences from theology and the poetic tradition then thriving in Iceland. Shortly after returning from Norway, Snorri is thought to have composed Háttatal, a long poem praising Norwegian royalty, then expanded his work with accounts of mythology and poetic rules.
A guide to gods and verse
The Prose Edda is made up of four principal sections. The Prologue introduces a Christianised retelling of the Norse pantheon, tracing the gods’ origin to survivors of Troy in a move echoing Virgil’s Aeneid. This approach set the tone for blending European learning with native legend.
The next section, Gylfaginning (“the tricking of Gylfi”), adopts a lively question-and-answer style. Here, King Gylfi of Sweden interrogates three enigmatic figures (the Æsir), extracting a sweeping account of the creation and end of the world according to Norse belief. The narrative format was typical of European textbooks of the time, balancing entertainment and instruction.
Skáldskaparmál (“the language of poetry”) offers a compendium of myth and poetic craft. It features a dialogue in which Bragi (the god of poetry) and Ægir (the sea god) explore legends before providing lists and explanations of “kennings”, figurative, riddle-like metaphors, and “heiti”, or poetic synonyms. This section is rich in examples from the work of both Norwegian and Icelandic poets. It also preserves stories that explain the origins of certain poetic expressions.
The last part, Háttatal (“list of verse-forms”), is a collection of 102 stanzas demonstrating many different Old Norse poetic metres. While chiefly Snorri’s own work, it also reflects his view that older poets did not always conform to his systematic rules.
Handwritten legacy and enduring puzzles
Seven primary manuscripts of the Prose Edda survive, from the 14th to the 17th centuries. None is wholly complete, and each contains variations, additions or rearrangements. The four principal manuscripts are known as Codex Regius, Codex Upsaliensis (Uppsala Edda), Codex Wormianus and Codex Trajectinus. Smaller fragments also exist. The dynamic transmission and adaptation of the text reflect the Edda’s origins as both a guidebook for poets and a living document of evolving tradition.
The word “edda” itself remains mysterious. Some suggest a link to Oddi, the southern Icelandic place where Snorri grew up, but this theory is doubted. Other proposals connect “edda” to the Old Norse word for “great-grandparent” or “poetry/inspiration,” or even the Latin word “edo” meaning “I write.” Its meaning may have shifted over the centuries, paralleling the Edda’s own journey from textbook to cultural treasure.
Sources
- Wikipedia
- Wikipedia (Icelandic) in Icelandic
