The Eddas

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What does "Edda" mean?

There are many theories concerning the meaning of the word edda. One theory holds that it means "great-grandmother". Another theory holds that edda means "poetics". A third belief is that it means "the book of Oddi". Oddi is the name of a place Snorri Sturluson was educated. Whatever the meaning of the word, students of Norse mythology would be lost without the Eddas.

The Poetic Edda

The Poetic Edda is the older of the two Eddas and therefore sometimes called the Elder Edda. It is also sometimes referred to as Saemund's Edda after a famous Icelander. It consists of many different tales which were put together by an anonymous person probably around 1250 CE. The date of origin of the various poems has long been under discussion. Birger Nerman, in The Poetic Edda in the Light of Archaeology, puts forward the opinion that the majority of the stories must have been written before the Viking age. This book is quite dated though (1930) and it would be interesting to see a more recent essay on this subject.

The Poetic Edda can be divided into two sections, a mythical one and a heroic one.

The mythical poems
The mythical poems, which are generally considered younger, are:
   • Völuspá, Prophecy of the Vala - A volva chants about the cosmos, from creation to destruction.
   • Hávamál, Sayings of Hár - Wisdom sayings. Also, the story of how Odin learned the runes.
   • Vafþrúðnismál, Sayings of Vafþrúðnir" - Odin matches wits with a wise giant.
   • Grimnismál, Sayings of Grimnir - Agnar and Geirrod are brother princes and foster sons of Frigg and Odin. Geirrod the younger does away with his brother so he can be King. Frigg gets Odin to visit his favorite Geirrod, but first she implants evil notions in the King's head so he will treat Odin poorly. Odin arrives at Geirrod's saying his name is Grimnir, gets tossed into a fire, and avenges himself by killing Geirrod.
   • Skirnismál, Sayings of Skirnir - Frey falls in love with Gerd so he has his servant Skirnir go woo her for him.

Rick McGregor's Skmrnismal as Ritual Drama: A Summary of Scholarship this Century, is very informative.
  • Hárbarzljóð, Lay of Hárbarth - Thor and Hárbarth (Odin) have a contest regarding who has more accomplishments.
  • Hýmiskviða, Lay of Hymir - Thor and Tyr go to the giant Hymir's in search of a kettle large enough for Aegir to brew ale in for the gods' feast. While with the giant, they go fishing and Thor hooks the Midgard Serpent.
  • Lokasenna, Loki's Mocking - Loki crashes a party of the gods at Aegir's hall and slanders all.
  • Þrymskviða, Lay of Thrym - Thrym steals Thor's hammer. Thrym states he will give it back if he can marry Freya. Freya will have no part in the bargain so Thor dresses in drag, pretending to be Freya going to her wedding feast.
  • Alvíssmál, Sayings of Alvís - The dwarf Alvis wants to marry Thor's daughter Thrud. He ends up in a contest of knowledge and is outwitted by Thor, who keeps the dwarf up until the sun comes up, thereby turning Alvis into Stone.
  • Baldrs draumar, Balder's Dream - Balder has nightmares so Odin rides to the underworld to talk to a volva to find out what Balder's dreams portend.
  • Rigsþula, Rig's Song - Rig, another name for Heimdall, journeys about middle-earth siring the three social classes of man: slave, freeman, and noble.
  • Hyndluljóð, Lay of Hyndla - Freya rides her lover Ottar (in boar form) to Hyndla's and gets the wise woman to state Ottar's ancestory.
  • Vöuspá hin skamma, The Short Prophecy of the Vala - A shorter version of the history and future of the universe.
  • Svipdagsmál: Grógaldr, Fjölsvinnsmál, Sayings of Svipdag: Spell of Gróa, Sayings of Fjölsvith - Svipdag is pushed by his stepmother into finding the love of his life and winning her.

The heroic lays
The heroic lays, which are considered to have earlier dates of origin than the mythical lays:
  • Völundarkviða, The Lay of Volund
  • The Helgi Lays: Helgakvða Hjörvarþssonar, The Lay of Helgi Hjorvarthsson, Helgakviða Hundingsbana I, The First Lay of Helgi the Hunding-Slayer, Helgakviða Hundingsbana II, The Second Lay of Helgi the Hunding-Slayer
  • Frá dauða Sinfjötla, Sinfjotli's Death
  • Grípisspá, The Prophecy of Gripir
  • Reginsmál, The Lay of Regin
  • Fáfnismál, The Lay of Fafnir
  • Sigrdrífumál, The Lay of Sigrdrifa
  • The Great Lacuna
  • Brot af Sigurþarkvðu, Fragment of a Sigurd Lay
  • Guðrúnarkviða I, The First Lay of Gudrun
  • Sigurþarkviða hin skamma, The Short Lay of Sigurd
  • Helreið Brynhildar, Brynhid's Ride to Hel
  • Dráp Niflunga, The Fall of the Niflungs
  • Guðrúnarkviða II (hin forna), The Second (or Old) Lay of Gudrun
  • Guðrúnarkviða III, The Third Lay of Gudrun
  • Oddrúnargrátr, The Plaint of Oddcrúnargrátr
  • Atlakviða, The Lay of Atli
  • Atlamál hin groenlenzku, The Greenlandish Lay of Atli
  • Guðrúnarhvöt, Gudrun's Lament
  • Hamðismál, The Lay of Hamdir

The Prose Edda

The Prose Edda or Younger Edda, was written by Snorri Sturluson around 1220 CE. It consists of three sections. The first part is "The Deluding of Gylfi", or Gylfaginning. It consists of a story in which Gylfi asks three chieftains -- High One, Just-as-high, and Third -- questions about Norse mythology. The second section, Skáldskaparmál ('Poetic Diction'), gives various kennings and the stories behind them. Háttatal is the final part of the Prose Edda and it is about King Hakon and different meters.