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serenak's review against another edition
5.0
þessi líka góð skrifaði svakalega próf ritgerð um hana, snorri ef þú ert að lesa þetta, góð bók elska þig
gamato's review
5.0
Five stars to the Faulkes translation.
I can't explain the logic behind Goodreads jumbling different Prose Edda translations together into the same ratings and reviews. They tell me it is normal behavior for translations of all types.
Well, it's not normal behavior for all the different translations of Beowulf!
Nor should it be. Modern scholarship makes a difference, and not all editions of the Prose Edda even contain the same material. Get the Faulkes edition, and you will be glad you did.
I can't explain the logic behind Goodreads jumbling different Prose Edda translations together into the same ratings and reviews. They tell me it is normal behavior for translations of all types.
Well, it's not normal behavior for all the different translations of Beowulf!
Nor should it be. Modern scholarship makes a difference, and not all editions of the Prose Edda even contain the same material. Get the Faulkes edition, and you will be glad you did.
sunflowers_sunsets's review against another edition
3.0
And I thought Greek mythology was insane.
Some bits were a little tedious and hard to read, but there was some other really interesting stuff in here and I’m glad I read.
Some bits were a little tedious and hard to read, but there was some other really interesting stuff in here and I’m glad I read.
auntiejamie's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
3.0
How can one not be captivated by the stories of the Norse Gods? The two biggest problems with the book is that they are written by a Christian after the Christianization of Scandinavia and that Sturlusson is utilizing a technique called "euhemerism" which is when the gods are rewritten to be normal people, usually kings and powerful figures of legend.
gilnean's review
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Death, War, Animal death, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture, Confinement, and Grief
Minor: Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Cannibalism, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, and Child death
mindfulnessmagpie's review against another edition
It's hard to rate something which is essentially a primary source for norse mythological study.
If you are taking your first steps into norse mythology I wouldn't start here. There are many good re-tellings that you can dip your feet into first. However, it is a good midway point in terms of the first half of the book. This is stories of the gods which can be used to make your own poetry and retellings. The prose edda, from what I can gather seems to be written by Snorri as a way to preserve the traditions of Skaldic and Eddic poetry in a time when mainland Latin Europe was becoming more influential.
The second half therefore is primarily concerned with the teaching of the Kennings (a way of referring to something without using the word by referencing the norse myths. E.g: The sky would be 'skull of Ymir') and being able to use these as a skald yourself. As such, a lot of the stories of the heroes in the second half are very brief retellings and are better accounted in the poetic edda and various sagas such as the sagas of the Volsungs for Sigurd the dragonslayer.
It is an incredibly important piece of work which has helped with the translation of the poetic edda. It is also another good stepping stone on the route to understanding the norse myths and how they shaped Scandinavian cultures.
It also goes without saying to take the background of the book into account. Snorri was alive a good two centuries after the fall of the Vikings and was a Christian. His greek and roman studies also heavily influence his retellings. It is also unknown whether this is a compilation by Snorri or whether he wrote it in its entirety but as Penguin classics are good for this sort of thing, this is all explained well in the prologue. How he approaches the writing because of the Christian influences does make it clunkier at first to get to the myths which is why I made my previous recommendation of not starting here.
If you are taking your first steps into norse mythology I wouldn't start here. There are many good re-tellings that you can dip your feet into first. However, it is a good midway point in terms of the first half of the book. This is stories of the gods which can be used to make your own poetry and retellings. The prose edda, from what I can gather seems to be written by Snorri as a way to preserve the traditions of Skaldic and Eddic poetry in a time when mainland Latin Europe was becoming more influential.
The second half therefore is primarily concerned with the teaching of the Kennings (a way of referring to something without using the word by referencing the norse myths. E.g: The sky would be 'skull of Ymir') and being able to use these as a skald yourself. As such, a lot of the stories of the heroes in the second half are very brief retellings and are better accounted in the poetic edda and various sagas such as the sagas of the Volsungs for Sigurd the dragonslayer.
It is an incredibly important piece of work which has helped with the translation of the poetic edda. It is also another good stepping stone on the route to understanding the norse myths and how they shaped Scandinavian cultures.
It also goes without saying to take the background of the book into account. Snorri was alive a good two centuries after the fall of the Vikings and was a Christian. His greek and roman studies also heavily influence his retellings. It is also unknown whether this is a compilation by Snorri or whether he wrote it in its entirety but as Penguin classics are good for this sort of thing, this is all explained well in the prologue. How he approaches the writing because of the Christian influences does make it clunkier at first to get to the myths which is why I made my previous recommendation of not starting here.
jasonfurman's review against another edition
3.0
The Prose Edda is, in comparison to the Elder or Poetic Edda, literally prosaic. The framing by the compiler, Snorri Sturluson, that attempts to put Norse mythology in the context of Christian belief and Ancient Greece is borderline bizarre/clunky. The epic itself tells most of the same story as the Elder Edda, often literally with text interspersed with verses from those poems, going from creation through Ragnarok—followed by a set of stories, many of them about the consequences of greed for gold. The myths themselves are, of course, epic. And it is interesting to read one of the main original sources. But the language/framing does not feel like it adds any new elements (unlike the fascinating poetry of the Elder Edda) and, in fact, seems almost worse than more recent compilations which in some ways have more coherence and artistry than what was itself a compilation nearly a millennium ago.
haynoelle96's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5
This is the best known source on Norse Mythology and while fascinating, at times it is a bit hard to understand. Reading about the different myths surrounding the gods that are embedded in our pop culture (Thor and Loki) was super interesting and I wish there was a version that explained things more clearly or if it was annotated. The stories were certainly a quick read, as the book was super short, and there were things that I learned that I wasn't aware of before I picked this up. Glad a class made me read it.
This is the best known source on Norse Mythology and while fascinating, at times it is a bit hard to understand. Reading about the different myths surrounding the gods that are embedded in our pop culture (Thor and Loki) was super interesting and I wish there was a version that explained things more clearly or if it was annotated. The stories were certainly a quick read, as the book was super short, and there were things that I learned that I wasn't aware of before I picked this up. Glad a class made me read it.