Prose Edda

The etymology of "Edda" remains uncertain; there are many hypotheses about its meaning and development, yet little agreement. Some argue that the word derives from the name of Oddi, a town in the south of Iceland where Snorri was raised. Edda could therefore mean "book of Oddi." However, this assumption is generally rejected. Anthony Faulkes in his English translation of the Prose Edda comments that this is "unlikely, both in terms of linguistics and history" since Snorri was no longer living at Oddi when he composed his work. Another connection was made with the word óðr, which means 'poetry or inspiration' in Old Norse. Edda also means 'great-grandparent', a word that appears in Skáldskaparmál, which occurs as the name of a figure in the eddic poem Rigsthula and in other medieval texts. A final hypothesis is derived from the Latin edo, meaning "I write". It relies on the fact that the word "kredda" (meaning "belief") is certified and comes from the Latin "credo", meaning 'I believe'. Edda in this case could be translated as "Poetic Art". This is the meaning that the word was then given in the medieval period. (therefore before the drafting of the Edda of Snorri), and so the Poetic Edda is also known as the Elder Edda. == Manuscripts ==

Seven manuscripts of the Prose Edda have survived into the present day: Six copies from the medieval period and another dating to the 1600s. No one manuscript is complete, and each has variations. In addition to three fragments, the four main manuscripts are Codex Regius, Codex Wormianus, Codex Trajectinus, and the Codex Upsaliensis: The other three manuscripts are AM 748; AM 757 a 4to; and AM 738 II 4to, AM le ß fol. Although some scholars have doubted whether a sound stemma of the manuscripts can be created, due to the possibility of scribes drawing on multiple exemplars or from memory, recent work has found that the main sources of each manuscript can be fairly readily ascertained. The Prose Edda' remained fairly unknown outside of Iceland until the publication of the Edda Islandorum in 1665. ==Authorship==

The text is generally considered to have been written or at least compiled by Snorri Sturluson. This identification is largely based on the following paragraph from a portion of Codex Upsaliensis, an early 14th-century manuscript containing the Edda: Scholars have noted that this attribution, along with that of other primary manuscripts, is not clear whether or not Snorri is more than the compiler of the work and the author of Háttatal or if he is the author of the entire Edda. Faulkes summarizes the matter of scholarly discourse around the authorship of the Prose Edda as follows: :Snorri's authorship of the Prose Edda was upheld by the renaissance scholar Arngrímur Jónsson (1568–1648), and since his time it has generally been accepted without question. But the surviving manuscripts, which were all written more than half a century after Snorri's death, differ from each other considerably and it is not likely that any of them preserves the work quite as he wrote it. A number of passages in Skáldskaparmál especially have been thought to be interpolations, and this section of the work has clearly been subject to various kinds of revision in most manuscripts. It has also been argued that the prologue and the first paragraph and part of the last paragraph of Gylfaginning are not by Snorri, at least in their surviving forms. Whatever the case, the mention of Snorri in the manuscripts has been influential in a common acceptance of Snorri as the author or at least one of the authors of the Edda. ==Contents==

Prologue The Prologue is the first section of four books of the Prose Edda, consisting of a euhemerized Christian account of the origins of Norse mythology: the Nordic gods are described as human Trojan warriors who left Troy after the fall of that city (an origin which parallels Virgil's Aeneid). Gylfaginning and High, Just-as-High, and Third. Manuscript SAM 66 (Iceland, 1765–1766), Reykjavík, Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies. Gylfaginning (Old Icelandic 'the tricking of Gylfi') follows the Prologue in the Prose Edda. Gylfaginning deals with the creation and destruction of the world of the Nordic gods, and many other aspects of Norse mythology. The section is written in prose interspersed with quotes from eddic poetry. Skáldskaparmál and Loki. Beginning of the myth of the abduction of Iðunn, attested in Skáldskaparmál. Manuscript NKS 1867 4to (Iceland, 1760), Copenhagen, Royal Library Skáldskaparmál (Old Icelandic 'the language of poetry') is the third section of Edda, and consists of a dialogue between Ægir, a jötunn who is one of various personifications of the sea, and Bragi, a skaldic god, in which both Norse mythology and discourse on the nature of poetry are intertwined. The origin of a number of kennings are given and Bragi then delivers a systematic list of kennings for various people, places, and things. Bragi then goes on to discuss poetic language in some detail, in particular heiti, the concept of poetical words which are non-periphrastic, for example "steed" for "horse", and again systematises these. This section contains numerous quotes from skaldic poetry. Háttatal Háttatal (Old Icelandic "list of verse-forms") is the last section of Prose Edda. The section is composed by the Icelandic poet, politician, and historian Snorri Sturluson. Primarily using his own compositions, it exemplifies the types of verse forms used in Old Norse poetry. Snorri took a prescriptive as well as descriptive approach; he has systematized the material, often noting that the older poets did not always follow his rules. == Translations ==

The Prose Edda has been the subject of numerous translations. The most recent ones into English have been by Jesse Byock (2006), Anthony Faulkes (1987 / 2nd ed. 1995), Jean Young (1954), and Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur (1916). Many of these translations are abridged; the technical nature of the Háttatal means it is frequently excluded, and the Skáldskaparmál often has its more Old Norse thesaurus aspects abridged as well. Translations into English • • (Project Gutenberg e-text, 1901 ed.; Wikisource edition.) • Compilation of two translations made earlier; Blackwell's translation of the Prose Edda is from 1847. • • • • • A version based strictly on the Codex Upsaliensis (DG 11) document; includes both Old Norse and English translation. Translations into other languages • • 3 volumes: Vol. 1: Formali, Gylfaginning, Bragaraedur, Skaldskarparmal et Hattatal (1848), Vol. 2: Tractatus Philologicos et Additamenta ex Codicibus Manuscripts (1852), Vol. 3: Praefationem, Commentarios in Carmina, Skaldatal cum Commentario, Indicem Generalem (1880–1887) • • • • , 2 volumes : 1 facsimile; 2 translation and notes • , 2 volumes : 1 facsimile; 2 translation and notes • • == Old Norse editions ==

• • • , Norse text and English notes. • • • • • Snorri Sturluson (2012), The Uppsala Edda: DG 11 4to (PDF), Heimir Pálsson (ed.), Anthony Faulkes (trans.), Viking Society for Northern Research, ==See also==