Prose Edda

The Prose Edda, or Elder Edda, is a mythography written around the year 1220 CE by the scholar and politician Snorri Sturluson. It contains three parts: The Tricking of Gylfi (Gylfaginning), The Language of Poetry (Skáldskaparmál), and Tally of Meters (Háttatal). The first two books recall a series of legends and myths about the Norse gods, while the third discusses poetry. The Prose Edda is written in Icelandic but has a number of English translations.

Snorri had two reasons for writing this book: The first was to preserve the dying artform of Old Norse skaldic verse, including the complicated poetic device known as kenning. The second—and far more political—reason was because Snorri wanted Iceland to unite under King Hakon the Fourth of Norway, and writing about the Norse myths was a way to demonstrate Iceland’s and Norway’s shared cultural understanding (indeed, many things about the Prose Edda are designed to be lost on readers who didn’t appreciate the Norse myths). Snorri’s political goals failed, however, and the King of Norway later had him assassinated.

The Prose Edda is often paired with the Poetic Edda as sources of Norse mythology. Snorri didn’t write the Poetic Edda, but he quotes it throughout his own work.