The Younger Edda; Also called Snorre's Edda

Gods, giants and the language of poetry share the page in this English selection from Snorri Sturluson's Younger Edda. Rasmus B. Anderson presents The Fooling of Gylfe, Brage's Talk and passages from the Poetical Diction, together with introductory material and notes. Stories of the world's creation stand beside accounts of Odin, Thor, Loke and Idun, giving the reader a sense of the figures and incidents behind Norse poetic imagery.

The connection between tale and verse becomes especially clear in the account of Thor's visit to Geirrod. A dangerous river crossing and a hostile reception are followed by a poem that retells the encounter in dense, figurative language. The volume combines narrative prose with quoted songs, and its vocabulary and index help readers follow unfamiliar names. It suits those studying Norse mythology or trying to understand how traditional stories supplied poets with names, comparisons and indirect ways of describing their subjects.