#younger edda

[studiotriggerfan397]

Fun Fact:

One day, the Sun and Moon will be swallowed by wolves...well, at least according to Norse myth they will be.

In Norse mythology, the Sun is personified by a woman named "Sól" and the Moon is personified by a man named "Máni". Sól pulls the Sun behind her chariot, and Máni pulls the Moon behind his, thus giving us the passing of time. But their journey through the sky isn't all sunshine and rainbows. Snorri Sturluson tells us that Skoll and Hati, the two wolf children of Fenris, are chasing them, always nipping at their heels. And it's foretold that when Ragnarok arrives, Skoll and Hati will catch up to their prey and devour them.

Some sources do disagree with Snorri and contend that the Fenris Wolf will be the one who eats the Sun and Moon when it breaks out of captivity, not the other two wolves. But no matter what version you prefer, Sól will have a daughter (also named "Sól") that will take her place to pull the Sun across the sky, continuing the passage of time.

[nonegenderleftpain]

Prose Edda Introductory and Historical Notes

Anthony Faulks translation, University of Birmingham

• Stories are based on traditional poems or oral prose, though told by a Christian author • Most comprehensive account of Norse legend found anywhere in the Middle Ages • Further reading - Elder Edda, Ynglinga saga, History of the Danes (Saxo Grammaticus), Saga of the Volsungs, Hattalykil (treatise on skaldic verse) • Many early writers in Iceland were clerics?  What does this mean? • Around the time Iceland accepted Norwegian rule, oral poetry gave way to sagas • Seems as though Snorri wrote the Edda to keep skaldic verse alive • Most of the surviving skaldic verse has been quoted in sagas, but as it is complicated it gave way to simpler literature •  He occasionally formalized otherwise scattered meters to create something consistent • Kenning - periphrastic descriptions, like fire of the sea = gold • Bragi's section on kennings may not be Snorri's work (has been revised a lot), and the quotations in this section of the work are from earlier poets • Heiti - poetic words that are not kennings, i.e. steed • The end of Skaldskaparmal is a primitive thesaurus for poets • Gylfaginning is a dialogue between Gylfi and a fictional trinity, as a contest of wisdom that Gylfi loses through trickery • Snorri saw the heathen gods as kings who were worshipped by the ignorant, and warned against worshipping them.  They're called the AEsir because he believes them to have originated in Asia Minor, descendants of King Priam of Troy • He was attempting to record his ancestors' beliefs without prejudice, even if he saw them as false • What is rimur? Narrative Icelandic poetry? • "It may be that Snorri's versions are less authentic than those less affected by Christianity and learning, but if the skill of the author gives his stories a plausibility which is misleading to the historian, it also makes them more rewarding for the student of literature." • This translation is mostly the text of the Codex Regius, and where there are gaps, text is supplemented from other manuscripts

[fuckyeahnorsemythology]

Hi, I have been getting into Norse mythology as of late, and I have read the Eddas (the ones by Snorri Sturluson) but I have read and heard that the ones by snorri are particularly painted by his visions of Christianity and such, like when he ties some gods from the pantheon to the Devil and such. Do you know of other authors that I can read the Eddas from and are more or less well versed in it?

Hello @skryr and thank you for the question, although there seems to be a little confusion to your wording.

Only the Prose Edda (also called the Younger Edda) was authored by Snorri Sturluson. Other related works of which he was an author include Heimskringla and (as it is believed by many scholars) Egils Saga.

The Poetic Edda (also called the Elder Edda) was a separate collection of poems of unknown authorship and unknown exact date. I have touched on the origins of both with this post.

The discussion of how much influence Christianity played into Snorri’s works is a mystery that remains unsolved and probably never shall be.

I hope that helps - @hedendom

[estel-and-agape]

My favourite bit of the Younger Edda so far:

Ganglere: Why do temperatures change?

Har: Are you kidding me? Are you seriously asking me that right now? Literally everyone knows this. I can’t believe you don’t know this. What are you, stupid? That’s literally the dumbest question I’ve ever heard. OBVIOUSLY, there are two jötnar who make it warm or cold based on their moods. Idiot.

[nighean-willow]

Thor is a man after my own heart.

[zaflikescreepydolls]

“We would recommend our readers to omit the Forewords and Afterwords until they have perused the Fooling of Gylfe and Brage’s Speech. The Forewords and Afterwords, it will readily be seen, are written by a later and less skillful hand, and we should be sorry to have anyone lay the book aside and lose the pleasure of reading Snorre’s and Olaf’s charming work, because he became disgusted with what seemed to him mere silly twaddle.”

Scholarly sass from the 1879 translation of the Younger Edda.

[indo-european-studies]

Translated by Anthony Faulkes, 2012

Old Norse Text with Facing English Translation

[dearth-paths-green]

I like that bit in the Prose Edda where High lists the names of Odin, and one of them is "High" and another is "Just as High" and Gangleri doesn't click.