Poetic Edda
The Old Norse collection of mythological and heroic poems preserved in the Codex Regius. Long misattributed to Saemundr the Learned; its poets are unknown.
- Original byline
- Anonymous
- Published
- 1260
- Form
- Poems
- Authorship
- Still unknown
- Reason for anonymity
- Unrecorded
- Copyright
- Public domain
- Reference
- Wikipedia · Wikidata
The authorship story
The Poetic Edda is the modern name for the anonymous Old Norse poems of the Codex Regius manuscript, written in Iceland around 1270 from older tradition: Voluspa's prophecy of the world's end, Havamal's counsel of Odin, the tragedies of Sigurd and the Volsungs. For centuries the collection was called Saemundar Edda after the eleventh century priest Saemundr the Learned, an attribution scholarship has decisively rejected. The individual poems were composed by unknown poets across centuries and two or more countries. The deepest sources of Norse myth reach us with every poet's name lost.
Questions readers ask
Who wrote Poetic Edda?
Nobody knows. No author for Poetic Edda has been identified in the documented record.
Can I read Poetic Edda for free?
Yes. Poetic Edda is in the public domain and the full text is free to read at Project Gutenberg.
When was Poetic Edda published?
Poetic Edda was published in 1260 without an author’s name.
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