Icelandic epic Edda

Icelandic epic Edda, known also as the Younger Edda or Snorri's Edda is an Icelandic manual of poetics which also contains many mythological stories. Its purpose was to enable Icelandic poets and readers to understand the subtleties of alliterative verse, and to grasp the meaning behind the many kennings that were used in skaldic poetry.

It was written by the Icelandic scholar and historian Snorri Sturluson around 1220. It survives in seven main manuscripts, written from about 1300 to about 1600.

The Prose Icelandic epic Edda consists of three distinct sections: the Gylfaginning (c 20 000 words), the Skáldskaparmál (c 50 000 words) and the Háttatal (c 20 000 words).

The Icelandic epic Edda are collections of poetically narrated folk-tales relating to Norse Mythology or Norse heroes.

These are fragmentary parts of a (presumably) much larger scaldic tradition of oral narration which has been written down by scholars prior to the tales being lost absolutely.

There are a number of theories concerning the origins of the word edda. One theory holds that it is identical to the word that seems to mean "great-grandmother". Another theory holds that edda means "poetics". A third is that it means "the book of Oddi", Oddi being the place where Snorri Sturluson was educated.

The Iceland poems Edda or Elder Edda is a term applied to two things. The first is a certain manuscript, Codex Regius, containing numerous Old Norse poems. The second meaning is wider and includes not only the contents of Codex Regius but also several other similar poems.

Codex Regius came into the possession of the then Bishop of Skalholt, Brynjolfur Sveinsson in 1643. It dates back at least to the 13th century containing many verses which had been referenced by Snorri Sturluson in his Icelandic epic Edda whence Brynjolfur named this verse collection Icelandic epic Edda also and the name, though arbitrary, has stuck. Other poems of similar type in other manuscripts are normally also included in editions of the Poetic Icelandic epic Edda. The main meter of the Eddic poems is fornyraislag. Malahattr is a variation thereof. The rest of the Eddic poems (about a quarter) are composed in ljodahaettr. Regarding all of these, see alliterative verse.

Skaldic poetry (Icelandic: drottkvæði, "court poetry") is Old Norse poetry composed by known skalds, as opposed to the anonymous Eddaic poetry. The most prevalent metre is drottkvætt. The subject is usually historical and eulogic, detailing the deeds of the skald's king.

The skaldic poems have the following characteristics." The author is usually known." The meter is ornate, usually drottkvætt or a variation thereof." The syntax is complex, with sentences commonly interwoven." Kennings are used frequently and gratuitously.

The Old English epic poem Beowulf is written in alliterative verse.

Skaldic poems
Most of the skaldic poetry we have are poems composed to individual kings by their court poets. They typically have historical content, relating battles and other deeds from the king's carrier. Examples:" Vellekla - The deeds of Hákon Hlaðajarl." Bandadrápa - The deeds of Eiríkr Hlaðajarl.A few surviving skaldic poems have mythological content." Þórsdrápa - A drápa to the god Thor telling the tale of one of his giant-bashing expeditions." Haustlöng - Relates two tales from the mythology as painted on a shield given to the poet." Ragnarsdrápa - Relates four tales from the mythology as painted on a shield given to the poet." Húsdrápa - Describes mythological scenes as carved on kitchen panels." Ynglingatal - describes the origin of the Norwegian kings and the history of the House of Yngling. It is preserved in the Heimskringla.

To this could be added two poems relating the death of a king and his reception in Valhalla.Thor goes fishing for Jormungandr in this picture from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript. Ynglingatal is a poem listing the kings of the House of Ynglings. The Ynglings (Heimskringla), Scylfings (Beowulf) or Sons of Frey (Gesta Danorum and Ynglingatal) were the oldest known Scandinavian dynasty. ... Heimskringla is the old norse name of a collection of sagas recorded in Iceland around 1225 by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (1179-1242). In this illustration from a 17th century Icelandic manuscript Heimdallr is shown guarding the gate of Valhalla. " Hákonarmál - The death of king Hákon and his reception in Valhalla." Eiríksmál - The death of king Eiríkr and his reception in Valhalla.

Encyclopedia: Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson (1178- September 23, 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet and politician. He was twice lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Alþingi. He was the author of the Younger Icelandic epic Edda or Prose Icelandic epic Edda, which is comprised of Gylfaginning ("the fooling of Gylfe"), 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 Heimskringla, a history of the Norse kings that begins, in Ynglinga saga with the legendary history, and moves through to early medieval Scandinavian history. He is also thought to be the author of Egils Saga.

September 23 is the 266th day of the year (267th in leap years). Events April 5 - Mongols of Golden Horde under the command of Subotai defeat feudal polish nobility, including Knights Templar, in the battle of Liegnitz April 27 - Mongols defeat Bela IV of Hungary in the battle of Sajo.

As an historian and mythographer, Snorri is remarkable for proposing the theory (in the Prose Icelandic epic Edda) that mythological gods begin as human war leaders and kings whose funereal sites develop cults (see euhemerism). As people call upon the dead war leader as they go to battle, or the dead king as they face tribal hardship, they begin to venerate the figure. Eventually, the king or warrior is remembered only as a god. He also proposed that as tribes defeat others, they explain their victory by proposing that their own gods were in battle with the gods of the others.Euhemerus (flourished around 316 BCE) was a Greek mythographer at the court of Cassander, the king of Macedonia.

Snorri was raised by Jon Loftsson in Oddi. His marriage made him a wealthy man, and in 1206 he settled in Reykholt, where he constructed buildings preserved to the present day. He quickly became known as a poet, but was also a successful lawyer, and from 1215 became the lawspeaker, or president of Iceland's legislative assembly and supreme court. Events Temujin is proclaimed Genghis Khan of the Mongol people, founding the Mongol Empire Qutb ud-Din proclaims the Mameluk dynasty in India, the first dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate. There are two villages with this name in Iceland: Reykholtsdalur avec Deildartunguhver Reykholt (Borgarfjörður, West Iceland) The village is situated in the valley of the river Hvítá, called the Reykholtsdalur. A Lawspeaker (Old Swedish: laghmaner or laghman, Norwegian: lagmand, Icelandic: logmadur) was a unique Scandinavian legal office.

Snorri sailed the summer of 1218 from Iceland to Norway, by royal invitation. There he became well-acquainted with King Hákon Hákonarson, visited Skule Jarl during the winter, and in the summer of 1219, he met his Swedish colleague, the lawspeaker Eskil Magnusson (Bjälboätten) and his wife Kristina Nilsdotter Blake in Skara. They were both related to royal family and gave Snorri a nice insight into the history of Sweden. Events Damietta is besieged by the knights of the Fifth Crusade.

Snorri became involved in an unsuccessful rebellion against Hákon Hákonarson, the King of Norway, and was subsequently killed at Reykholt (Borgarfjörður) where he had been living. Håkon IV (1204-December 15, 1263), also called Haakon the Old, was declared to be the son of Håkon III of Norway, the leader of the Birkebeiner, who had seized control over large parts of Norway in 1202. This article is a list of rulers of Norway up until the present, including: The Norwegian kingdom (with the Faroe Islands) The Union with Iceland and Greenland (1262-1814) The Norwegian kingdom (with Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands 1262-1814) The Union of Sweden and Norway (1319-1343). There are two villages with this name in Iceland: Reykholtsdalur avec Deildartunguhver Reykholt (Borgarfjörður, West Iceland) The village is situated in the valley of the river Hvítá, called the Reykholtsdalur.

A statue of Snorri Sturluson by Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland was erected at Reykholt in 1947. Gustav Vigeland (April 11, 1869 " March 12, 1943) was a Norwegian sculptor. 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar).

Note about the name: The correct Icelandic spelling of the name is Snorri Sturluson. Snorre Sturlason is the modern Norwegian spelling, whereas "Sturlusson" is a corrupt spelling, most likely stemming from a misunderstanding of Nordic/Icelandic naming conventions (a second S usually indicates a kind of posessive which is not appropriate in this case, but for other names such as "Jon" the posessive S in "Jons" renders the final result "Jonsson" rather than "Jonson"). Additionally, Since Sturluson is a patronym and not an actual surname, Snorri Sturluson should always be referred to as either "Snorri Sturluson" or "Snorri", never as "Sturluson" only.

Encyclopedia: Skáldskaparmál
The second part of the Younger Icelandic epic Edda of Snorri Sturluson. The Skáldskaparmál or 'language of poetry' is effectively a dialogue between the Norse god of the sea, King Ægir and Bragi, the god of poetry, in which both Norse mythology and discourse on the nature of poetry are intertwined. The origin of a number of kennings are given and Bragi then delivers a systematic list of kennings for various people, places and things. Bragi then goes on to discuss poetic language in some detail, in particular heiti, the concept of poetical words which are non-periphrastic e.g. steed for horse, and again systematises these.

This in a way forms an early form of poetic thesaurus.This article is about a mythological figure. Bragi, in Norse mythology, is the god of poetry. Heiti is a word used to describe a form of kenning, particularly with reference to a by-name for one of the Norse or Anglo-Saxon deities.

Encyclopedia: Háttatal
The Háttatal is the third section of the Younger Icelandic epic Edda set down by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson. It describes the types of verse forms available to the poet.

Icelandic epic Edda,Icelandic epic Edda,Icelandic epic Edda,