First time in Penguin Classics for Scandinavia's best known work of literature and the principal source for knowledge about Norse mythology
One of the great storybooks of the middle ages: a master storyteller from the thirteenth century recounts classic tales of Icelandic mythology along with a lesson to young poets on the importance of learning, respecting, and continuing traditional Icelandic poetic styles.
Paperback
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Summary
First time in Penguin Classics for Scandinavia's best known work of literature and the principal source for knowledge about Norse mythology
One of the great storybooks of the middle ages: a master storyteller from the thirteenth century recounts classic tales of Icelandic mythology along with a lesson to young poets on the importance of learning, respecting, and continuing traditional Icelandic poetic styles.
Description
First time in Penguin Classics for Scandinavia's best known work of literature and the principal source for knowledge about Norse mythologyThe 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.
About the Author
Snorri Sturlson (1179-1241) was an Icelandic descendant of the poet and hero from Egil's Saga, Egill Skallgrimsson. 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).
Product Details
Returns
This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.
Browse by category
- Books » Fiction & Literature » Mythology & Folk Tales
- Books
- Books » Fiction & Literature
- Books » Non-Fiction » Religion & Spirituality » Other Religions, Practices & Sacred Texts » Tribal & Ethnic
- Books » Non-Fiction
- Books » Non-Fiction » Religion & Spirituality
- Books » Non-Fiction » Religion & Spirituality » Other Religions, Practices & Sacred Texts
- Books » Non-Fiction » Religion & Spirituality » Christianity
