Prose Edda

The Snorra Edda (also the prose Edda, and imprecise Younger Edda ) is an originally titled just as Edda manual for bards. The term is used to distinguish from the Poetic Edda. The Snorra - Edda is intended primarily as mythographisches and seal theoretical work, but also provides an important source of Old Norse poetry and mythology from the 13th century; they were written by Snorri Sturluson, an Icelandic poet and historian, who from 1178 or 1179 lived until 1241. It is a compilation of Norse lore, which should be developed 1220-1225. The motivation Snorri to write this manual, lay in his fear that in the course of extensive Christianization of the North, necessary for the understanding of skaldic metrical forms knowledge of Norse mythology could be lost. The Snorra Edda pursues teaching and preserving goals. Snorri's effort was the tradition of his time probably mainly orally present Skaldenstrophen.

Tradition and manuscripts

Snorri compiled the Norse myths, some of which he borrowed from the Poetic Edda, in part, no longer known sources took, with the intention to provide a manual available that the Norse metrics and poetics and the materials of the seals, which removed the poetic paraphrases are documented.

Get remained Snorra Edda in four manuscripts. None of these transcripts was made by Snorri himself or in his lifetime, so do not know if anything comes from his pen:

  • The oldest manuscript, the Codex Upsaliensis (U, Codex DG 11), dating back to 1300.
  • The best preserved Codex Regius of Snorra Edda (R, Gks 2367, 4to ), probably from the year 1325.
  • The Codex Wormianus (W, AM 242 fol. ), Which arose about 1350.
  • The Codex Trajectinus (T, Utrecht 1374 ), which is a copy on paper from the period around 1600. The parchment template may have originated in the 13th century.

The name Edda

Snorri to his Nordic mythography, including skaldischem textbook, have given the name Edda, which was then transferred to the collection of the seals of the so-called Poetic Edda, which contains most of the poems from which Snorri has built its Snorra Edda.

The oldest manuscript of 1300 with " This book is called Edda " titled. The meaning and etymology of the name Edda is controversial. The meant by his contemporaries significance may have been poetics. Throughout the history of research to date, four different options were discussed:

  • Old Icelandic edda refers to the great-grandmother - of antiquity because of the text, as a mythological primordial mother
  • A derivation of the Old Icelandic word ODR ( poetry, poetry) - as poetry teaching
  • Derived from the Latin edo ( I proclaim, announce, even dense )
  • A dedication to the place name of Oddi, where Snorri lived - The Book of Oddi.

These speculations should not be forgotten that the name does not come from Germanic tradition, but from the circle of learned Icelandic early history, which was quite aligned Christian.

Texts of Snorra Edda

The Snorra - Edda is divided into three main parts:

  • The prologue Snorra Edda
  • The Gylfaginning ( Gylfis deception: the main part of the Snorra Edda, which, in the background story of the legendary king Gylfi, offers a didactic outline of Norse mythology )
  • The Skáldskaparmál (language of poetry: a poetics of skaldic poetry, the theory and practice of kennings and a list of poetic synonyms contains )
  • The Háttatal (list of verse forms, contains a detailed commentary Snorri )
  • The Skáldatal ( Skaldenverzeichnis: an enumeration of the names of Skald, this text will only survived in a manuscript ( DG 11) of the Snorra Edda ).

The drafting of Gylfaginning Snorri and Skáldskaparmál to Latin models of didactic dialogue and medieval textbooks of poetics and rhetoric has served.

Importance of Snorra Edda

The individual texts of the Snorra Edda stand in a certain relation to each other:

  • The prologue of the Snorra Edda ( altisländ. formalized ) classifies the presented by Snorri pagan Norse world view in the context of the Greco- Roman shaped medieval scholarship - he presents Old Icelandic scholarly history. The Germanic gods are in it as human heroes of the Trojan War streamlines ( euhemerisiert ) are accepted there as kings hiking in the north after the fall of Troy and; the title Æsir ( Aesir ) is attributed to Asia (Asia Minor).
  • Snorri's Gylfaginning unfolds Nordic mythography in a contemporary garment, they passed on the primeval sources, from which the gods songs, unfolds cosmogony and cosmology of the Norse- Germanic culture from its beginning to its end in Ragnarok.
  • The Skáldskaparmál offers prospective Skalden a Style Guide. Quoted in its texts refer firstly to the mythical prehistoric times, but are on the other hand with historical bards and princes in conjunction.
  • The Háttatal contains the skaldic prosody as she looked for his presence as binding Snorri.

Despite their different parts of the designed Snorra - Edda is in its entirety but a textbook for bards.

Snorri further work

In addition to his prosaic Edda Snorri we owe to other texts that have been considered in the understanding of the Old Icelandic scholarly prehistory as historical, and whose historical value is still being discussed:

  • The Heimskringla ( ie Circle World ), an extensive chronicle of the Norwegian kings of the mythical time to direct in Snorri's past.
  • The Olaf's saga helga ( a separate Saga of Olaf the Holy )
  • Perhaps the Egils saga Skallagrímssonar, one of the great biographical Icelandic sagas, which tells the life of the skald Egill, Snorri was the ancestor.
Prologue (Prose Edda) Asia (Roman province) Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde Integrated Authority File
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