Edda - Definition and Overview

For Edda 'great-grandmother' as the ancestress of serfs see Ríg.

The Edda are collections of poetically narrated folk-tales relating to Norse Mythology or Norse heroes.

These are fragmentary parts of a (presumably) much larger scaldic tradition of oral narration which has been written down by scholars prior to the tales being lost absolutely.

There are a number of theories concerning the origins of the word edda. One theory holds that it is identical to the word that seems to mean "great-grandmother". (See Rig.) Another theory holds that edda means "poetics". A third is that it means "the book of Oddi", Oddi being the place where Snorri Sturluson was educated.

There are two Eddas:

• The Elder Edda, also known as the Poetic Edda
• The Younger Edda or the Prose Edda

Versions online

• THE ELDER EDDAS AND THE YOUNGER EDDAS (http://fax.libs.uga.edu/PT7234xE211/), Eng. trans. by I. A. Blackwell, 1906