Scan barcode
A review by mindfulnessmagpie
The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson
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.