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The Prose Edda

4.15 of 5 stars 4.15 · rating details · 3,061 ratings · 134 reviews

Written in Iceland a century after the close of the Viking Age, The Prose Edda is the source of most of what we know of Norse mythology. Its tales are peopled by giants, dwarves, and elves, superhuman heroes and indomitable warrior queens. Its gods live with the tragic knowledge of their own impending destruction in the cataclysmic battle of Ragnarok. Its time scale spans...more

Paperback, 180 pages

Published January 31st 2006 by Penguin Classics (first published 1220)

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Jun 29, 2010 Alex rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, middle-ages, particularly-drunk-reviews

The Edda is a collection of Norse myths, written in the 13th century by a dude named Snorri. It's where we got most of our knowledge of Norse mythology today, and it's wicked awesome. I learned, for instance, that your legs may hump each other and produce a child while you're asleep, which is something I'm going to be more careful about from now on. And that mead started as god spit, then turned into blood, and ended up being farted out of Odin's ass, which is, by a train of logic that actually...more

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Apr 20, 2010 Rebecca rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics

Tis a divinity shopping list. I'm in the lesser gods section.
They're on two for one.

*gets trolley rage at checkout*

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May 24, 2011 Furball rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Mythology Lovers ♥

Shelves: mythology, poetry, adventure

I didn't read the whole thing of the Prose Edda, but I read the excerpt part of Thor and Loki in Giantland in school.
Believe it or not, I liked it.
Maybe not loved it, but it definitely is something mythology readers would like.

So the story of Thor and Loki in Giantland is a story that Aesir (one of the Norse gods) tells when Gylfi asks him if Thor ever met a being with powers greater than his own. So, Aesir begins the story with Thor and Loki lodging at a farmer's house. For punishment of Thjal...more

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Apr 24, 2011 Basicallyrun rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: asnc-y

To be quite honest, I think I liked this more for the historical-ness than for the actual stories. I'd only sort of heard of Snorri in passing, so to speak, and had kind of assumed he was a scholarly type wandering round and transcribing myths and legends in a terribly earnest fashion. Um, yeah, not so much. The very informative introduction disabused me of that pretty quickly - apparently Snorri was more of an argumentative war leader than anything, and wrote the Prose Edda on his days off. Whi...more

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Aug 11, 2009 Briynne rated it 4 of 5 stars

I’ve been meaning to read both this and the Poetic Edda for a while now, and starting the Icelandic Sagas was just the kick in the pants I needed to do it. I felt like I could use some cultural context, and Snorri here provides it in spades. Norse mythology is fascinating in that it represents a belief-system that was actually practiced not so long ago, relatively speaking. Rome officially converted in the early 300s and I think that most of Europe outside the empire was at least nominally Chris...more I’ve been meaning to read both this and the Poetic Edda for a while now, and starting the Icelandic Sagas was just the kick in the pants I needed to do it. I felt like I could use some cultural context, and Snorri here provides it in spades. Norse mythology is fascinating in that it represents a belief-system that was actually practiced not so long ago, relatively speaking. Rome officially converted in the early 300s and I think that most of Europe outside the empire was at least nominally Christian by the 7th century or so. So, the fact that Scandinavia remained pagan until after the 1st millennium, and probably much longer than that in more remote areas, makes it rather unique.

There is a fun contrast between the grand designs and personalities of Norse mythology. Namely, the Norse understanding of the cosmos is beautiful and elegant; and its gods and other characters are rather not. Their construct of the universe centers around the tree Yggdrasil, the branches and roots of which support the nine worlds of men, gods, giants, elves, and the dead. A giant serpent gnaws on the root of the tree, threatening to destroy it, but the tree is kept alive by three Norns, who are analogous to the Fates. The Norse version of the apocalypse, Ragnarok, was my favorite of the stories. Ragnarok begins when Yggdrasil shudders, the Fenris-wolf is loosed in the world, and the giant serpent surrounding the earth joins his side. It culminates in the death of nearly all the gods and the destruction of the world in flames and floods. It gave me chills. I would love to know how much of the story is colored by Christian interpretations of older material and how much is just eerily similar to the apocalypse story in Revelations. That being said, there are probably only so many ways to have an Armageddon, so maybe the similarities are just natural.

The gods and goddesses and creatures that figure in these myths are definitely interesting, but they largely lack the polish of the creation and apocalypse myths. These are gods that were dreamed up by people who lived pretty darn close to the Arctic Circle before electricity; so logically, they are tough and brutal and just a little scary.

It kills me that people refer to Loki as a “trickster” god. It seems a little inappropriate to equate Loki’s bloody mayhem and maliciousness with schoolboy shenanigans. However, I fully accept that the Vikings and I may have somewhat different senses of humor. Although, considering that the gods did end up tying him to a rock with his son’s intestines so a snake could drip excruciating venom into his face for eternity, perhaps they didn’t find him all that funny either.

Next in line is Thor, who is kind of a jerk. He seems to be unduly popular considering that he’s constantly bashing people’s heads in with his hammer every time he gets a bit cross. Not very gentlemanly, but I suppose I do see the appeal that his temper and easily offended honor might have had to a society centered around warrior culture. His one redeeming moment came after Loki cut off all of Thor’s wife Sif’s pretty hair, and he threatened to break every bone in Loki’s body unless he swore to fix it. I actually found that quite sweet.

Odin is scary, but good. I think it’s the ravens that freak me out, or maybe the pet wolves. I’m also a little creeped out by his valkyries who swoop down and snatch men who have died in battle. On a side note, what an interesting conception of heaven Valhalla is: getting up in the morning, chopping your friends to bits with war-axes, and then sitting down to some serious mead-drinking by breakfast-time, all miraculously healed so you can do it all again tomorrow.

The goddesses were a little difficult to get a handle on, personality-wise. They seem to be less manipulative and horrible than their Greco-Roman counterparts, but that’s about all I could get. Frigg is the queen of the gods, and she sees everyone’s fate but tells no one. Freyja is the Aphrodite of the group, Hel guards the realm of the dead, and Idun possesses the magic that keeps the Æsir eternally young. There are others of course, but the women are just very remote in the stories.

At the very end, and completely unexpected, was the extremely melodramatic story of Sigurd, Gunnar, and Brynhild. I knew that old Wagner got it from somewhere, I just didn’t know it was from here. Ick. It’s not his fault, but Sigurd will only ever make me think of Nazis and bad, loud opera featuring hefty women in horned helmets.

Lots of fun, and definitely more my style than nymphs and satyrs frolicking in meadows.
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May 17, 2012 Ben rated it 4 of 5 stars

So after diving headlong into ancient Norse mythology and history, by way of the Heimskringla, The Poetic Edda, and Sagas of Icelanders in turn, I've become ever more interested in the subject (and medieval literature generally). There simply isn't enough extant, well-preserved material to satisfy the desire to know everything, more often we're left with as many questions as answers. The Prose Edda is no exception. Written by the Icelandic chieftain-poet-historian Snorri Sturluson in the 13th ce...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Prowisorio rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: recensie

Waarom zou je in 2011 nog een IJslands dichtershandboek lezen dat begin 13de eeuw is geschreven? Een boek dat onder andere verhalen over de noordse godenwereld bevat, maar voor een groot deel bestaat uit het opsommen en uitleggen van zogenaamde 'kenningen' die door diverse IJslandse dichters werden gebruikt? Dichters zoals Bragi de Oude, Olvir Stompneus, Gamli de Hoogverheven Dichter, Ulf Uggason, Hallfrod de Lastige Dichter, Einar de Tinkelaar van de Weegschaal? Wat wordt je wijzer van opsommin...more

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Jan 11, 2011 Dav rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mythology, nordic-literature

The Edda is essentially a 13th century crash course in Norse mythology. At the time it was written Iceland was already Christian and the book's author penned an unintentionally humorous disclaimer in the prologue making sure everyone knew that he didn't believe any of this, that he was sophisticated enough to know the truth of Christianity, and he was just concerned about preserving these quaint beliefs for the their cultural and literary value. His sincerity made me giggle a little. I don't kno...more The Edda is essentially a 13th century crash course in Norse mythology. At the time it was written Iceland was already Christian and the book's author penned an unintentionally humorous disclaimer in the prologue making sure everyone knew that he didn't believe any of this, that he was sophisticated enough to know the truth of Christianity, and he was just concerned about preserving these quaint beliefs for the their cultural and literary value. His sincerity made me giggle a little. I don't know, maybe the disclaimer was necessary back then, it's just so bizarre in a modern context.

Any who the intent of the book seems to be some what instructional. It collects various stories of godly hijinks, heroes and the monsters they face as well as shorter bits explaining little details of the world according to Norse mythology and the proper way to name things according to the traditions of skaldic poetry. That's why I call it instructional. Most of early Nordic literature is poetic and has very specific rules and symbolism. It can be tricky to understand the kennings and stories without a fair amount of background information so the Prose Edda is essentially intended to give people the background they need to understand and appreciate the literary tradition of skaldic poetry.

That said it doesn't really matter if you're reading the Edda with the intent to dig into skaldic poetry or not. The Prose Edda is the primary source of Norse mythology available to us today and Norse mythology is crazy. Like other mythological systems the purpose is to explain the world and give the history of the gods, but the Norse take just seems a little crazier and bloodier. I can't really go into the actual mythology without either going on way too long or short changing the stories, but suffice it to say that at one point Loki ties his testicles to a goat and engages in a tug of war with said goat.

On a side note, reading Norse mythology totally put me in the mood to revisit my neglected metal collection. Norse mythology is pretty metal.(less)

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Apr 28, 2011 Mac rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It’s sort of strange to give a review of a book like this – as if I can sit here and complain that Thor’s character feels underdeveloped, or that I didn’t understand Odin’s motivation for acting as he did. It is, after all, from the 13th century, written by someone we might characterize as an Icelandic warlord – and yet, as removed as I am, it’s still fascinating. The book is genuinely funny at times, and the stories of the Norse gods and goddesses have a sense of humor to them that even the Gre...more

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Jul 29, 2010 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars

I was so excited to finally get around to reading Norse mythology, but I wound up being less than impressed with the Prose Edda. It may be that I am just used to Greek myths, which read more like supernatural soap operas (and I looooove me some soapy goodness), but a good deal of the Prose Edda just lulled me to sleep. Really, how much is there to say about mead and gold? If you are ancient and Norse, then apparently there are volumes to be proclaimed on just those two subjects alone. I swear ha...more

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Jul 08, 2011 George rated it 3 of 5 stars

Tall tales of Thor and Odin and Loki and the gang which we know through popular culture -- or at least think we know. The Prose Edda is a more accessible reworking of the poetic Edda, which covers much of the same material. Much of the material is quite thin relative to vast body of literature associated with, for example, the pantheon of the Greeks, and the prose is merely serviceable; the King James Bible this is not. But there are some gems in here.

What struck me about the Prose Edda, as wit...more

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Apr 17, 2013 Micah Harding added it

I really enjoyed this despite the fact that it was so crazy and random. I was surprised while going through it to see how much Tolkien relied on it--from light and dark elve distinctions and dwarf names, to the Surt/Sauron comparisons and obviously a lot more. One of the things that interested me on further research was in comparing Loki to the Greek god Metis. Unlike Zeus, Odin never successfully manages to 'digest' wisdom and ends up being eaten by 'her/his' offspring. Loki, the cunning or sha...more

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Feb 10, 2009 John rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Snorri Sturluson is an Icelandic leader who lived around the turn of the 13th C. He's generally credited with being the first author to put many of the Norse Myths down on paper. Interestingly enough, these stories were indeed "myths" to him as he was a Christian. That said, one would never know judging by his obvious dedication and enthusiasm in telling the stories.
Did not read the entire book as I was using this for research and some of the sections did not pertain to my immediate needs. This...more

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Jul 12, 2010 Roxanne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reference, spirituality

At risk of alienating everyone Icelandic, I have to say that at first I thought "Snorri" might be a nickname for the author based on his writing style. The first half of "The Deluding of Gylfi" is just really dry. Part of that might be the translation (looks like it dates to 1954), and part of it might be that I picked up this book wanting to have read it, but not necessarily wanting to read it, if you know what I mean. It's a key distinction. Anyway, once we moved on from the lists of who-begat...more

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May 23, 2013 Alex rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I feel sort of wretched giving this excellent translation of the Prose Edda anything less than a perfect score, but...I can't do that. The Edda is simply not built for the kind of enjoyment or stimulation that even its cousins the Sagas are. What Snorri Sturluson was writing here is a textbook for skalds (medieval Icelandic poets) and as such most of it is devoted to endless enumerations of the many kennings and alternate names for the Aesir, kings, heroes, men, women, weapons, oceans, and on an...more

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Nov 02, 2009 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: folk-tales, medieval-literature

Snorri Sturluson wrote his Edda, also known as the "Prose Edda", around 1220. Sturluson's work contains his versions of numerous Norse/Icelandic myths as well as a fair catalogue of tropes, motifs and "kennings" of skaldic poetry. This work derives from a really fascinating liminal period in European history between pagan and Christian culture and oral and written culture. It is a written work that seeks to preserve an oral tradition. Additionally, it was written by a Christian author about the...more Snorri Sturluson wrote his Edda, also known as the "Prose Edda", around 1220. Sturluson's work contains his versions of numerous Norse/Icelandic myths as well as a fair catalogue of tropes, motifs and "kennings" of skaldic poetry. This work derives from a really fascinating liminal period in European history between pagan and Christian culture and oral and written culture. It is a written work that seeks to preserve an oral tradition. Additionally, it was written by a Christian author about the not-so-distant pagan past of his people. These tensions between the written and the oral and the Christian and the pagan wind their way throughout the book. I find particularly interesting Sturluson's relatively sympathetic treatment of the pagan beliefs of his own culture. Medieval Christianity has scarcely been noted for its patient toleration of diverse beliefs, but Sturluson strikes an expository tone that is without condescension. In fact, he practically offers an apology and asks indulgence for the Norse people's pagan past by portraying these beliefs as rather misinterpreted versions of true Christian (and latinized) beliefs. For instance, he equates the Aesir (the stock of the Norse pantheon) with the inhabitants of ancient Troy and hypothesizes that these migrating kings from Asia simply, if mistakenly, came to be revered as gods by the Norse people. Sturluson's entire work ranges from interesting to extremely entertaining, but the sleight of hand he continually exercises in blending Norse pagan myth with latinized Christian tradition is what really stood out to me about this book. Having read a good many primary sources from the Middle Ages, I found Sturluson's Edda particularly sensitive and clever. The latter portions of the book, which focus so exclusively on skaldic poetry and its language are, perhaps, of greatest interest to specialists who wouldn't be reading the Edda in translation anyway. However, I still found delightful kernels of myth and story interlaced into these more didactic chapters. The entire thing is really worth a read and especially for those, like myself, who delight in the historian's sensibility wherever it is found. Sturlson may have been explicating poetry, but he did so with the attention and perspective of an historian. And, of course, only fairly recently have these two disciplines been separated from each other as though unrelated. Sturluson's Edda provides a beautiful example of poetry as history and history as poetry. (less)

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Jan 22, 2011 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The edition I read was abundantly illustrated with fine art pieces from the likes of Paul Klee, Anselm Kiefer, James Ensor, and many Scandinavian artists I am now more aware of. The book has short appendix with biographical sketches on each of the artists. The Edda is a fantastic collection of creation stories, myths and legends. Reading it, I was constantly reminded by the tales, names, or references of other cultural works, perhaps more widely known: Wagner's Ring Cycle, Tolkien, Led Zeppelin....more

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Oct 05, 2012 Lauren rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: penguin-classics

This was a tricky book to get through, but thankfully I was in a great Classical Mythology class taught by one of the most awesome professors I've ever had the pleasure of learning from. Nordic Myths typically don't interest me, but in the right set of circumstances, I can be convinced to go along for the ride.

What's particularly interesting about "The Prose Edda" is that it was written by an individual who was spreading Christianity. This is all that remains of Nordic Myths and it wasn't even w...more

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Nov 03, 2012 A.C. Fellows rated it 4 of 5 stars

It was interesting how one layer of myth - the one we all associate with the Norsemen - was encapsulated in a completely different layer of myth - one much more like the story in Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain, identifying the Norse Gods as deified humans and linking their story back to the Trojan War.

And, if you always thought that Tolkien made up those names in the beginning of the Hobbit - 'Gandalf', 'Thorin', 'Nori Dori and Ori', 'Bifur Bofur and Bombur', etc... HE D...more

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Apr 19, 2012 Lucas rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mediaeval, literature

As this is a primary source, I am only reviewing the edition. Given some excellent other reviews available I see no point in reiterating the basics of what the book is about. It should also be noted that I have no experience with Old Norse, and thus I am unable to comment on the finer points of the translation.

While this is a very fun book to read, made all the more so by the readable translation, this book really shines on account of its appendices and notes. Penguin Classics are usually just...more As this is a primary source, I am only reviewing the edition. Given some excellent other reviews available I see no point in reiterating the basics of what the book is about. It should also be noted that I have no experience with Old Norse, and thus I am unable to comment on the finer points of the translation.

While this is a very fun book to read, made all the more so by the readable translation, this book really shines on account of its appendices and notes. Penguin Classics are usually just that - the classic itself. Typically, the support material is rather bare, although this seems to have been changing over the last few years. The recent edition of Anna Komnene's 'Alexiad' is one of these new texts, and so is this one. Some of the earlier texts like Tacitus' 'Annals' and Suetonius 'Twelve Caesars', although revised and given the new black jacket, are still extremely bare bones, and in the case of Tacitus, aren't even equipped with a competent index. This edition is a radical departure for that, and I can do nothing other than praise the material provided within. Even though the Prose Edda is one of the major foundational texts for understanding Norse literature, much lies under the surface and these support materials are absolutely essential for understanding the text. Beyond having good notes, this edition has several excellent appendices on the Norse cosmos, the language of the skalds, and the sources used in the 'Gylfaginning'. There are genealogical tables and a generous glossary that all aid in the understanding of the text. The introduction is excellent and provides a firm basis for reading the Edda. My only complain lies along the lines of the notes. As Penguin inserted them as end notes, there is a lot of constant flipping to the back to see what insights Byoxk has provided. Given how important these are to understanding this text, it was a real nuisance that they were not foot notes. Still, this is a minor complaint for an overall fantastic edition. (less)

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Aug 03, 2012 Scott rated it 4 of 5 stars

A bit more challenging that some other Norse Mythology books, but one that is well worth reading. It was basically the source for most of the Norse mythology that followed it. I have read that some of the poetic flow is lost from the translation from it's native Icelandic. The book I have was translated by Jesse Byock, and I think it reads very well considering the depth and scope of the source material. This one feels more based in the traditional folk tale roots than some other Norse mythology...more

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Sep 21, 2011 Kristen rated it 3 of 5 stars

For a complex book on Norse mythology, the Prose Edda is extremely easy to read (thus why it's called Prose of course!). The stories are fun and detail how the world came into being with the gods, my favorite is that we have earthquakes because of Loki having venom dripped on his face. It shows a lot of the intricate story attributed to the Norse myths, while not stepping on other religions, even going so far as to mention the many revered names they have for Christ. I did read this for school,...more

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May 10, 2009 Jim rated it 5 of 5 stars

Another splendid look at Icelandic and Old Norse Literature by UCLA professor Jesse L. Byock, who has become probably the most respected scholar in the area worldwide -- outside of perhaps Iceland.

Here are told all the tales of the Aesir, the Gods Odin, Thor, Loki, Freya -- and the eventual doom that overtakes their world at Ragnarok, when the Fenriswolf and the Midgard Serpent are loosed upon the world tree Yggdrasil.

There is an incredible pathos to Norse mythology. Odin sees and calmly discu...more

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Mar 02, 2013 Robert rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-after-college, fiction

This was an enjoyable read - a good read, if you will. _The Prose Edda_ is an interesting example of the intersecting of pagan mythology and early Christianity. The two traditions exist side-by-side, really, and the story shows the Norse poets integrating, and perhaps jury-rigging, them together. How does a poet talk about and exalt Jesus Christ as God, while at the same time explain the origin of the world in part as the slaying of Ymir and holding Odin to be the All-Father? The result is an am...more

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Sep 08, 2010 Isil rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: mythology lovers, Tolkien's fans

Shelves: scandinavie, mythologie, xiiie

L’Edda en prose, écrite par Snorri Sturluson, islandais chrétien du treizième siècle, est une somme de récits mythologiques et héroïques des anciens scandinaves. Malgré une influence chrétienne évidente (la description de Hel, l’Enfer en est un exemple assez flagrant), c’est une source importante de connaissance de ces mythes. C'est ma deuxième lecture de ce livre qui m'avait beaucoup plu. Ma lecture récente de Beowulf m'a donné envie de me replonger dans ce texte.

La première partie « Gylfaginni...more L’Edda en prose, écrite par Snorri Sturluson, islandais chrétien du treizième siècle, est une somme de récits mythologiques et héroïques des anciens scandinaves. Malgré une influence chrétienne évidente (la description de Hel, l’Enfer en est un exemple assez flagrant), c’est une source importante de connaissance de ces mythes. C'est ma deuxième lecture de ce livre qui m'avait beaucoup plu. Ma lecture récente de Beowulf m'a donné envie de me replonger dans ce texte.

La première partie « Gylfaginning » (La mystification de Gylfi) est la plus longue. En une centaine de pages, on découvre la cosmogonie scandinave, sous la forme d’un dialogue entre Gylfi et trois hauts personnages rencontrés à Ásgard. On y découvre le géant Ymir et l’origine du monde, la naissance des géants, les dieux et leurs actes de bravoure (Thor, pas toujours à son avantage lorsqu’il se fait berner mais très fort, Tyr le hardi, Odin), Loki (et ses enfants monstrueux, le loup Fenrir et le serpent de Midgard qui contient le monde) ou encore l’apparition des premiers hommes. Cette première partie s’achève sur le Ragnarök, ou Crépuscule des Dieux, qui décrit une fin du monde apocalyptique. Au-delà de l'intérêt du texte, la liste des nains de la page 44 ne peut que réjouir la fan de Tolkien qui est totalement éveillée en moi. Le début est assez descriptif mais heureusement, l'intérêt monte rapidement et puis on nous appâte très rapidement avec la fin du monde.

La deuxième partie, « Skáldskaparmál » (L’art poétique) nous plonge dans les récits mythologiques et héroïques. Le dieu Thor se bat contre des géants, le marteau qui reviendra à Thor est forgé… Cette partie recèle aussi un des joyaux des récits scandinaves, celui qui sera plus tard rendu célèbre par Wagner dans son opéra L'Anneau du Nibelung. Ici, on a un aperçu de la Völsunga, la saga qui raconte la malédiction qui s’abat sur l’anneau du nain Andvari lorsque Loki le lui enlève et tout ce qui en découle puis le destin tragique de Sigurd, Gudrun et Brynhild. Cette histoire est magnifique, on y trouve du sang, des larmes, des vengeances terribles et même un dragon, mais elle est aussi quelque peu frustrante. Elle donne surtout envie de lire la Völsunga saga.

L’influence de l’Edda sur Tolkien m’a parue encore plus claire que lors de ma première lecture. Le lien entre entre L'Edda et Le Hobbit est absolument évident. En outre, l’histoire de Tyr et du loup Fenrir m’a en partie fait penser à Beren dans le Silmarillion. Mais surtout, je trouve que la construction des deux livres est assez semblable. Dans les deux, on ne suit pas une histoire mais de multiples histoires successives raccrochées au même motif, avec de multiples personnages, avec une première partie consacrée à la création du monde et à la description des divinités et une deuxième partie qui raconte des récits mythologiques remplis de héros tragiques. La mythologique décrite dans l’Edda est sombre, pour les héros humains comme pour les dieux, comme l'est celle créée par Tolkien dans le Silmarillion.

On connaît la plupart des mythes décrits dans L’Edda, dont les figures sont beaucoup reprises dans la culture populaire moderne mais souvent cette connaissance se fait de manière déformée. Il ne faut donc pas se priver de découvrir l’original, texte magnifique et passionnant malgré une forme littéraire qui nous est peu familière.

Les notes sont très nombreuses et en fin de volume de l’édition Gallimard, ce qui n’en facilite pas la lecture mais qui l’enrichit considérablement. Les illustrations en noir et blanc que l’on trouve dans cette édition sont très bien choisies. (less)

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Oct 28, 2007 Jeff rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, fantasy, religion, classic

Snorri Sturluson ranks as the least known literary genius in Western Civilization. His work was the apex of Icelandic literature dealing with the Viking age. While Iceland had been Christian for over two centuries when Sturluson wrote this text, it is (along with the Poetic Edda ) one of the best primary sources of Viking myth and religion.

Better known as the Prose Edda this text is an attempt to permanently record the intricacies of the orally transmitted Skaldic literary tradition. It recor...more

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Sep 20, 2007 Carl rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Students/enthusiasts of mythology, heroic lit, and Norse lit.

Shelves: mythology, middleages, oldnorsestudies, heroicliterature

Naturally my review has turned out to be too long, so I'll post what I can and then post the rest as comments. And if anyone in a position of power at goodreads sees this, please give us more room to write!

An excellent translation of Snorri's Edda, or the Prose Edda. I hear Jesse Byock has a translation out as well which I'll have to check out, but I see no reason for the beginner to try anything other than Faulkes'-- at the very least, I believe his academic work has had him more involved in re...more Naturally my review has turned out to be too long, so I'll post what I can and then post the rest as comments. And if anyone in a position of power at goodreads sees this, please give us more room to write!

An excellent translation of Snorri's Edda, or the Prose Edda. I hear Jesse Byock has a translation out as well which I'll have to check out, but I see no reason for the beginner to try anything other than Faulkes'-- at the very least, I believe his academic work has had him more involved in research on Edda than Byock's, but I could be wrong. Of course, I know Byock's been doing some work on oral history that could be considered relevant to Edda, but as far as that whole topic goes I recommend Gisli Sigurdsson instead.
I believe Faulkes takes the majority or all of his translation from the Codex Regius manuscript, which is the primary one. As another review has said, Faulkes is one of the few translators to include Skaldskaparmal, which contains many of the most important stories. Well, some older translations include the interesting bits but leave out the rest. But with Faulkes you get the whole thing, and it serves as a reminder that Edda was not written as a handbook on mythology, but as a Poetics-- in fact, I believe Faulkes subscribes (as I do) to the idea that "Edda" (the book is named this in the Uppsala codex-- the name for Poetic or Elder Edda was applied to that MSS in the 1600s) is derived from the Latin verb for "compose", "edo" (based on a comparison to the Old Norse adaptation of the word "credo" to "kredda").
I think it was Magnus Olsen who first suggested that the book was originally written in reverse order. As we have it, it begins with a prologue (which may or may not have been written by Snorri) in which we are given a euhemeristic explanation for the gods, claiming that they are magicians who left Troy after the Trojan war and came to Sweden because their leader Odin prophecied that they would thrive there-- after arrival they convince the inhabitants they are gods (though I could be confusing a bit of this account with that in Ynglinga saga, or even Gylfaginning), which leads us to the next section, Gylfaginning (=The Deluding of Gylfi), which frames a summary of the mythology (especially the creation, Ragnarok, the main gods and some representative stories, basically along the lines of Voluspa/Seeress' Prophecy, which he constantly quotes) with a dialogue between the Swedish King Gylfi and the immigrant, magical Aesir from Asia Minor. After that we have Skaldskaparmal (=Poetic Diction), which begins with but doesn't sustain a frame narrative in which Aegir (in some places a "sea king", in some a giant or sea god) is at a feast with the Aesir (this could be the feast that the Aesir force the giant Aegir to host in Hymir's poem and Loki's quarrel in Poetic Edda) and questions Bragi, the god of poetry (apparently derived from the supposed court poet Bragi from around 850 who composed the first known skaldic poems, or drottkvaett stanzas-- the sort of poetry Snorri is teaching here) on the art of poetry, mainly kennings in this case, which are ornate circumlocutions used in drottkvaett (and to a lesser degree of ornateness in all Germanic alliterative verse). Most of these kennings are based on mythological stories, so Bragi explains many of these kennings by telling these stories. Eventually Skaldskaparmal turns into a bunch of lists of "heiti", which aren't kennings proper but just other ways of referring to things. (less)

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Sep 25, 2011 Bruce rated it 4 of 5 stars

Told in question and answer format this is a thirteenth century retelling in prose of the mythical stories of gods and heroes from Viking as recorded in the eddic and scaldic poetry of previous centuries. While a considerable amount of the poetry is included in the tales, the emphasis is on the prose retelling of the tales. In contemporary collection, the Elder, or Poetic Edda, which covers the same material, the verse tells the stories and short prose prologues tie the individual stories togeth...more

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Sep 20, 2011 Todd rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: scandinavia-and-norse-mythology, thor

This is a must have if you are interested in Norse mythology, or if you just watched Thor and are curious about the context. I have heard that there are better translations of this book, but I am not an authority to say; I think the book is an easy read. I was disappointed by the author's attempt to reconcile Christianity with pagan Norse beliefs -- interjecting with discussions of Christ and Old Testament stories that are not true to the original Norse myths. Overall though, it was an interesti...more

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Dec 08, 2011 Isabel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Then Gangleri asked: 'Why is there such a difference between hot summer and cool winter?'
High One said: 'A well-informed man would not ask this. Everyone knows why. However, if you are the only person so ill-informed as never to have heard, I'll admit that it is better for you to ask once in your foolishness than to go on any longer in ignorance of what you ought to know.

A translation of the narrative sections of The Prose Edda, which contain various stories about the Norse gods and heroes. In "...more

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About Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He was the author of the Prose Edda or Younger Edda, which consists of Gylfaginning ("the fooling of Gylfi"), a narrative of Norse mythology, the Skáldskaparmál, a book of poetic language, and the Háttatal, a list of verse forms. He was also the author of the...more

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Heimskringla: or, The Lives of the Norse Kings

Heimskringla, Volume 1: The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway

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“And now, if you have anything more to ask, I can't think how you can manage it, for I've never heard anyone tell more of the story of the world. Make what use of it you can.” — 10 people liked it

“But Loki's relations with Svadilfari were such that a while later he gave birth to a colt.” — 3 people liked it

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