The Elder Eddas (also known as the Poetic Edda) is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century onwards has had a powerful influence on later Scandinavian literatures, not merely through the stories it contains but through the visionary force and dramatic quality of many of the poems.The Codex Regius was written in the 13th century but lost until 1643 when it came into the possession of Brynjólfur Sveinsson. Brynjólfur attributed the manuscript to Sæmundr the Learned, a 12th century Icelandic priest. While this attribution is rejected by modern scholars, the name Sæmundar Edda is still sometimes encountered.Like most early poetry the Eddic poems were minstrel poems, passing orally from singer to singer and from poet to poet for centuries. None of the poems are attributed to a particular author though many of them show strong individual characteristics and are likely to have been the work of individual poets.
I found information on a Saemund Sigfusson while reading family documents. I then learned that Odinist Masons in France had seen him as instrumental in the building of the first Gothic cathedral in Chartres. When it comes to the Eddas, what was Saemund Sigfusson's role? Who knows for sure? Be that as it may be, the texts stand by themselves because they are a cultural landmark. Moreover, is it not interesting to see what the views of some specialists were in 1906? So, because there are readers who prefer a hard copy, here is the English translation again, a hundred years after its first publication, but this time with a new feature: an extensive index which should be useful to about anyone.
Have you ever been out talking with someone and knew there was a perfect Havamal quote for the situation but you just couldn't remember it exactly? Ever been inspired out in nature and felt the urge to read the words of Odin?If so, the Pocket Havamal is for you! This small book includes the entire Benjamin Thorpe translation of the Havamal or The Sayings of the High One.Now in a sleek matte black design.
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