the prose edda tales from norse mythology

It is an exposition of the rule of poetic. Prose Edda was designed as a handbook for poets to compose in the style of the skalds of the Viking ages. Edda means “poetic art,” and Sturluson’s guidebook for Icelandic poets has been a timeless inspiration for generations of writers around the world, including Wagner, Borges, and Tolkien. Snorri Sturluson feared that the traditional techniques of Norse poetics, the pagan kennings, and the allusions to mythology would be forgotten with the introduction of new verse forms from Europe. Its gods live with the tragic knowledge of their own impending destruction in the cataclysmic battle of Ragnarok. Its tales are peopled by giants, dwarves, and elves, superhuman heroes and indomitable warrior queens.

Iceland’s great literary genius, Snorri Sturluson (1179–1241), combined oral traditions, genealogical records, and old songs to immortalize his country’s glorious past. Prose Edda is the source of most of what we know of Norse mythology. The wellspring of modern knowledge of Norse mythology, these sagas preserved the Vikings’ narrative style from an invading European influence. They also depict the comic and disastrous results of ambition, passion, and destiny.

Resounding with a poetic instinct for the picturesque, the dramatic, and the human, they form vivid portraits of the characters’ personalities. Spanning the dawn of the world’s creation to its fiery destruction, these gripping Norse legends chronicle the triumphs and tragedies of a lost era. Grettir ‘the strong’ is powerfully built, constantly takes offence, relishes violence, and has a talent for composing acerbic poetry. Young (Translator) 4.16 13,220 ratings693 reviews Want to read Kindle 6.99 Rate this book Prose Edda is a work without predecessor or parallel. This cycle of folk tales, apparently based on the exploits of a real 11th-century Viking troublemaker, were collected together in the 14th-century Grettir’s Saga. Gods and giants bestride these ancient tales, in which warrior queens and noble heroes battle with elves, dwarves, and fearsome monsters. The Prose Edda: Tales from Norse Mythology Snorri Sturluson, Jean I.

The prose edda tales from norse mythology