What Is the Edda?

Which books are called the Edda?

There are 2 books known as the Edda: the Poetic Edda and Snorri’s Edda. The Poetic Edda is a collection of poems passed down from long ago. Some of these poems are quoted in Snorri’s book in exactly the same words.

In 1643, Brynjolfur Sveinsson, the bishop of Skalholt, discovered a manuscript containing these poems. Some survived in full, while only parts of others remained. The manuscript preserved the words of old poems together in one collection.

Snorri’s Edda, meanwhile, is a book written in prose by Snorri Sturluson. Along with stories about the gods, it explains special expressions used in poetry and the forms poems can take. Drawing on old poems, it teaches readers what they need to know to compose poetry themselves.

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