Book description
The Prose Edda is the most renowned of all works of Scandinavian
literature and our most extensive source for Norse mythology. Written in
Iceland a century after the close of the Viking Age, it tells ancient
stories of the Norse creation epic and recounts the battles that follow
as gods, giants, dwarves and elves struggle for survival. It also
preserves the oral memory of heroes, warrior kings and queens. In clear
prose interspersed with powerful verse, the Edda provides unparalleled
insight into the gods' tragic realization that the future holds one
final cataclysmic battle, Ragnarok, when the world will be destroyed.
These tales from the pagan era have proved to be among the most
influential of all myths and legends, inspiring modern works as diverse
as Wagner's Ring Cycle and Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
Snorri Sturlson (1179-1241) was an Icelandic descendant of the poet
and hero from Egil's Saga, Egill Skallgr msson. He was the best-known
writer of the saga, author of the PROSE EDDA, which was written as a
textbook for young poets who wished to praise kings, and HEIMSKRINGLA,
a history of the kings of Norway, the most important prose collection
in Old Norse literature.
Jesse Bycock is Professor of Icelandic and Old Norse Literature at
the University of California and has published widely on Medieval
Iceland. For Penguin, he is the author of Viking Age Iceland (2001).
