The

, also known as the

or

[Sæmundr's Edda], is a collection of Old Icelandic poems about the Norse gods and heroes. The name Edda is not original to the manuscript(s). The primary and largest manuscript of the collection, Codex Regius 2365 4to, was acquired by Bishop Brynjólfr Sveinsson in 1643. At the time it was assumed that Snorri Sturluson had drawn on a lost collection of poems for his own Edda, a book of poetics and mythology which was written around 1220. The newly discovered collection was taken as Snorri's source and named

on the assumption that it was written by Sæmundr inn fróði [Sæmundr the learned]. Sæmundr died in 1133, which would put the writing of his Edda nearly a century before Snorri's. Based on this…

1407 words

Citation: Olsen, Carl. "Edda, the Poetic". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 November 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5444, accessed 21 November 2024.]