Edda - The Prose Edda

The Prose Edda

The Prose Edda, sometimes referred to as the Younger Edda or Snorri's Edda is an Icelandic manual of poetics which also contains many mythological stories. Its purpose was to enable Icelandic poets and readers to understand the subtleties of alliterative verse, and to grasp the mythological allusions behind the many kennings that were used in skaldic poetry.

It was written by the Icelandic scholar and historian Snorri Sturluson around 1220. It survives in seven main manuscripts, written down from about 1300 to about 1600.

The Prose Edda consists of a Prologue and three separate books: Gylfaginning, concerning the creation and foretold destruction and rebirth of the Norse mythical world, Skáldskaparmál, a dialogue between Ægir, a supernatural figure connected with the sea, and Bragi, a god connected with skaldship, and Háttatal, a demonstration of verse forms used in Norse mythology.

Read more about this topic:  Edda