17 h 22 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A seeress speaks to Odin, Thor loses his hammer, and a family of heroes faces a chain of vengeance.
The Poetic Edda gathers anonymous Old Norse poems about gods and heroes, moving between prophecy, wisdom and heroic legends. In Völuspá, a seeress tells Odin what she remembers and sees ahead. In Hávamál, Odin offers rules for living and a hard-won secret.
The mood shifts from prophecy to quarrels and jokes. In Þrymskviða, a giant steals Thor’s hammer and demands Freyja as his bride. The heroic poems turn toward Sigurd, Brynhild and Gudrun, where oaths, love and vengeance bind lives together. This is a collection of distinct poems, not one continuous story.
What you’ll discover
- A seeress speaks Meet the wise woman whose vision reaches across the whole life of the world.
- Words from Odin Explore Hávamál, where practical rules for living sit beside a god’s hard-won secret.
- Thor without his hammer Discover a less solemn side of the gods through quarrels, jokes and an outrageous demand.
- Oaths and love Follow Sigurd and Brynhild into heroic poems where promises and love bind their lives.
- Gudrun and vengeance Watch the focus turn toward Gudrun and a family caught in a chain of vengeance.
Who will love it
For readers who love myth, fantasy and early literature, and want the source behind Thor, Odin and Sigurd, or are curious about Viking-age beliefs.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- One Icelandic manuscript holds nearly everything
- A seeress sees the whole life of the world
- Odin offers rules for living and a hard-won secret
- The gods quarrel, joke and cross the giants
- Sigurd and Brynhild: heroes bound by oaths and love
- Gudrun, Atli and the weight of vengeance
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- Audiobook
- 17 h 22 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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The Poetic Edda
by Anonymous
A seeress tells Odin of the world's creation and coming doom, while gods and heroes live under fate.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Poetic Edda is a collection of anonymous poems from the old Norse world. Most of them survive in one Icelandic manuscript, the Codex Regius, written down around 1270.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
One Icelandic manuscript holds nearly everything
The Poetic Edda is not a single poem or a book by one author. It is a modern name for a group of Old Norse poems, most of them found in the Codex Regius, a small manuscript written in Iceland in the second half of the thirteenth century. The name Edda was first given to Snorri's prose handbook for poets. When an Icelandic bishop, Brynjólfur Sveinsson, found the poetic manuscript in 1643, scholars came to call its contents the Poetic or Elder Edda.
The bishop believed the poems had been gathered by an earlier learned priest, Sæmundr. Scholars today do not accept that. The poems have no known author, and they were probably composed at different times and in different places across the Norse world. Some may go back to the Viking Age or earlier, and others may be later. Dating them is hard, because they lived in memory before they lived on the page.
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What is the Poetic Edda about?
It is a collection of Old Norse poems about the gods, such as Odin, Thor and Loki, and about heroes such as Sigurd and Gudrun. It covers the making and end of the world, wisdom sayings, and tales of vengeance.
What is the difference between the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda?
The Poetic Edda is a set of anonymous poems, mostly in the Codex Regius. The Prose Edda was written by Snorri Sturluson, about 1220, as a handbook for poets that retells myths in prose and often quotes the poems.
Who wrote the Poetic Edda and when?
No one knows. The poems are anonymous and were probably composed over several centuries, then passed on by speech. The main manuscript, the Codex Regius, was written in Iceland around 1270.
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