Elder Edda

Norse mythology. It is traditionally attributed to Sæmundr the Wise. The main manuscript is called Codex Regius which came into the possession of the then Bishop of Skálholt, Brynjólfur Sveinsson in 1643. It dates back at least to the 13th century containing many verses which had been referenced by Snorri Sturluson in the Younger Edda. The main meter of the Eddic poems is fornyrðislag. Málaháttr is a variation thereof. The rest of the Eddic poems (about a quarter) are composed in ljóðaháttr. Regarding all of these, see alliterative verse.

Scholars agree, that whoever wrote the Eddic poems, whether in the sense of being the compiler or the poet, it can't have been Sæmundr. The attribution is due to Brynjólfur Sveinsson, but it is not known how he reached that conclusion. What seems to be obvious, is multiple authorship over a long period of time. Named poets cited them in their own works, for instance Eyvindr skaldaspillir composing in the latter half of the tenth century. On the other hand the few demonstrably historical characters (for instance Attila) do provide a terminus post quem of sorts. Atlamál hin grœnlenzku is believed to have been composed in Greenland, which then can be no earlier than around 985 or so.

Codex Regius (R2365) was stored in the Royal Library in Copenhagen. In 1971 it was brought back to Reykjavík.

The term Eddukvæði (Eddic poems) is used for other poems of the genre as well. The precise composition depends on the editor. The poems commonly referred to as Eddic are:

Vǫluspá (also spelt Voluspo, known also as "The Prophecy of the Vala")

Hávamál (also spelt Hovomol) (also known as Sayings of the High One)

Hymiskviða (also known as "The Lay of Hymir")

Lokasenna (also known as "Loki's Mocking")

Alvíssmál (also known as "The Sayings of Alvis")

Baldrs draumar (also better known as "Baldur's Dreams")

Svipdagsmál (comprises two poems, Grógaldr, "The Spell of Gróa", and Fjǫlsvinnsmál, "The Lay of Fjǫlsviðr"")

Vǫluspá hin skamma (known also as "The Short Prophecy of Vala")

It also contains the heroic lays which are considered to predate the mythical lays.

Frá dauða Sinfjǫtla (also known as "The death of Sinfjotli")

Hlǫðskviða (Lay of Hlǫðr)

Gróttasǫngr (Song of Grótti)

The heroic lays are to be seen as a whole in the Edda, but they consist of three layers, the story of Helgi Hundingsbani, the story of the Niebelungen and the story of Jǫrmunrekr, king of the Goths. These are, respectively, Danish, German and Gothic in origin. It is interesting to note, that as far as historicity can be ascertained (at least Attila, Jǫrmunrekr and Brynhildr actually existed), the chronology has been reversed in the poems.

Lastly

Sólarljóð (Poems of the sun)

is often considered to belong to the Eddic poems, although it is Christian and belongs, properly speaking, to the visionary literature of the Middle Ages.

Like all early poetry these were minstrel poems, passing orally from singer (skald) to singer for centuries.

"The Elder Edda presents the Norse cosmogony, the doctrines of the Odinic mythology, and the lives and doings of the gods. It contains also a cycle of poems on the demigods and mythic heroes and heroines of the same period. It gives us as complete a view of the mythological world of the North as Homer and Hesiod do of that of Greece" (Anderson, Norse Mythology).

It is from the Elder Edda that J.R.R. Tolkien took the names of the thirteen dwarves in The Hobbit.

References

• Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússson, Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík 1989
• Eddukvæði, ed. Ólafur Briem, Reykjavík 1985
• Snorra-Edda, ed. Árni Björnsson, Reykjavík 1975

See also

Norse mythology

The Nine Worlds of Norse Mythology

People, places and things: Deities | Giants | Dwarves | Valkyries

Orthography | Numbers | Runes | Kenning

Elder Edda | Younger Edda | Skald | Sagas | Later influence

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