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{{Short description|Collective name of two Medieval Icelandic literary works}}
{{other uses}}
{{Old Norse topics}}

"'''Edda'''" ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɛ|d|ə}}; [[Old Norse]] ''Edda'', plural ''Eddur'') is an [[Old Norse]] term that has been applied by modern scholars to the collective of two [[Medieval Iceland]]ic literary works: what is now known as the ''[[Prose Edda]]'' and an older collection of poems (without an original title) now known as the ''[[Poetic Edda]]''. The term historically referred only to the ''Prose Edda'', but this usage has fallen out of favour because of confusion with the other work. Both works were recorded in [[medieval Iceland|Iceland]] during the 13th century in [[Old icelandic|Icelandic]], although they contain material from earlier traditional sources, reaching back into the [[Viking Age]]. The books provide the main sources for medieval [[skald]]ic tradition in [[Iceland]] and for [[Norse mythology]].

==Etymology==
At least five hypotheses have been suggested for the origins of the word ''edda'':

* One hypothesis holds that it is identical to a word that means "great-grandmother" appearing in the Eddic poem ''Rígsþula.''<ref>Snorri Sturluson.  ''The Prose Edda: Tales from Norse Mythology'', translated by Jean I. Young (University of California Press, 1964), p. 8.</ref> 
* Another hypothesis holds that ''edda'' derives from Old Norse ''óðr'', "poetry".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Faulkes |first1=Anthony |title=Edda |journal=Gripla |date=1977 |volume=2 |url=http://www.vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Edda.pdf |access-date=8 January 2025}}</ref>
* A third, proposed in 1895 by [[Eiríkur Magnússon|Eiríkr Magnússon]], is that it derives from the Icelandic place name ''[[Oddi]]'', site of the church and school where students, including [[Snorri Sturluson]], were educated.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Liberman | first1 = Anatoly | year = 1996 | title = Ten Scandinavian and North English Etymologies | journal = Alvíssmál | volume = 6 | pages = 63–98 }}</ref>
* A fourth hypothesis—the derivation of the word ''Edda'' as the name of Snorri Sturluson's treatise on poetry from the Latin ''edo'', "I compose (poetry)", by analogy with ''kredda'', "superstition", from Latin ''credo'', "creed"—is now widely accepted, although this acceptance might stem from its agreement with modern usage rather than historical accuracy.<ref>''Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages'' (2010) under "Snorri Sturluson"</ref>
* The fifth hypothesis is based on the past fashion of giving Icelandic manuscripts bird titles. Such are the legal codes ''Grágás'' 'grey goose', ''Gullfjǫðr'' 'gold feather (quill?)', and ''Hryggjar-stykki'' 'a kind of duck'. Perhaps ''Edda'' was also one of such titles: ''Edda'' would be an appropriate 'pet name' of ''æðr'' (pronounced as [æ:ðr] f.) 'eider duck'. Then, ''Edda'' meant 'little eider duck' (an analog of ''Grágás'').<ref name="LIBERMAN-395–405">Liberman, Anatoly (2016). "The Origin of the Name Edda", in Anatoly Liberman, ''In Prayer and Laughter. Essays on Medieval Scandinavian and Germanic Mythology, Literature, and Culture''. Paleograph Press. {{ISBN|9785895260272}}.</ref>

==The ''Poetic Edda''==
{{main|Poetic Edda}}

[[File:The Tree of Yggdrasil.jpg|thumb|The title page of Olive Bray's English translation of ''Codex Regius'' entitled ''Poetic Edda'' depicting the tree [[Yggdrasil]] and a number of its inhabitants (1908) by [[W. G. Collingwood]]]]

The ''Poetic Edda'', also known as ''Sæmundar Edda'' or the ''Elder Edda'', is a collection of [[Old Norse]] poems from the [[Iceland]]ic medieval [[manuscript]] [[Codex Regius]] ("Royal Book"). Along with the ''[[Prose Edda]]'', the ''Poetic Edda'' is the most expansive source on Norse mythology. The first part of the Codex Regius preserves poems that narrate the creation and foretold destruction and rebirth of the Old Norse mythological world as well as individual myths about gods concerning [[List of Germanic deities and heroes|Norse deities]]. The poems in the second part narrate legends about [[List of Germanic deities and heroes|Norse heroes and heroines]], such as [[Sigurd]], [[Brynhildr]] and [[Gunnar]].

It consists of two parts. The first part has 10 songs about gods, and the second one has 19 songs about heroes.

The Codex Regius was written in the 13th century, but nothing is known of its whereabouts until 1643, when it came into the possession of [[Brynjólfur Sveinsson]], then the [[Church of Iceland]]'s Bishop of [[Skálholt]]. At that time, versions of the ''[[Prose Edda]]'' were well known in Iceland, but scholars speculated that there once was another ''Edda''—an ''Elder Edda''—which contained the [[Norse paganism|pagan]] poems Snorri quotes in his book. When the Codex Regius was discovered, it seemed that this speculation had proven correct. Brynjólfur attributed the manuscript to [[Saemund|Sæmundr the Learned]], a larger-than-life 12th century Icelandic priest. While this attribution is rejected by modern scholars, the name ''Sæmundar Edda'' is still sometimes encountered.

Bishop Brynjólfur sent the ''Codex Regius'' as a present to King [[Christian IV of Denmark]], hence the name ''Codex Regius''. For centuries it was stored in the [[Royal Library, Copenhagen|Royal Library]] in [[Copenhagen]] but in 1971 it was returned to Iceland.

==The ''Prose Edda''==
{{main|Prose Edda}}

[[File:Edda.jpg|thumb|Manuscript of the Prose Edda]]

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

It was written by the Icelandic scholar and historian [[Snorri Sturluson]] around 1220. It survives in four known manuscripts and three fragments, written down from about 1300 to about 1600.<ref name="Wanner2008">{{cite book| author=Kevin J. Wanner| title=Snorri Sturluson and the Edda: The Conversion of Cultural Capital in Medieval Scandinavia| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BoLC0woy4iYC&pg=PA97 |access-date=17 December 2012| year=2008| publisher=University of Toronto Press| isbn=978-0-8020-9801-6| pages=97–98}}</ref>

The ''Prose Edda'' consists of a [[Prologue (Prose Edda)|Prologue]] and three separate books: ''[[Gylfaginning]]'', concerning the [[Norse cosmology#Cosmogony|creation]] and [[Ragnarök|foretold destruction and rebirth]] of the Norse mythical world; ''[[Skáldskaparmál]]'', a dialogue between [[Ægir]], a Norse god connected with the sea, and [[Bragi]], the [[skald]]ic god of poetry; and ''[[Háttatal]]'', a demonstration of verse forms used in Norse mythology.

==See also==
* ''[[Gesta Danorum]]''
* ''[[Heimskringla]]''
* [[Laufás-Edda]]
* [[Saga]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Cite AmCyc|wstitle=Edda |short=x}}
* {{cite EB9 |wstitle = Edda |volume= VII |last= Gosse |first= Edmund William |author-link= Edmund William Gosse | pages = 649–651 |short=1}}
* {{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Edda |volume= 8 |last= Gosse |first= Edmund William |author-link= Edmund William Gosse| pages = 921–922 |short=1}}

{{Poetic Edda}}
{{Prose Edda}}
{{Norse mythology}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Old Norse literature]]
[[Category:Norse mythology]]