Biblexika

Prose Edda

mythologyold-norse~1220 CE (based on older oral tradition)

Translation: Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur (1916) (public-domain)

Overview

Written by the Icelandic Christian scholar Snorri Sturluson around 1220 CE, the Prose Edda is the most comprehensive systematic account of Norse mythology and the most important single prose source for our understanding of the Norse gods, the creation narrative, and the eschatological vision of Ragnarok. Snorri composed it as a handbook for young poets who needed to understand the mythological references in skaldic verse — a genre of elaborate court poetry using kennings (compound metaphorical phrases) that drew heavily on mythological allusions.

The remarkable fact about the Prose Edda is that it was written by a devout Christian. Snorri was operating within the Latin scholarly tradition of medieval Europe while also being the foremost Icelandic intellectual of his generation. He developed a sophisticated framework for narrating pagan mythology without theological compromise: in the Prologue, he presents a euhemeristic interpretation in which the Norse gods were actually powerful human kings from Troy whose deeds became so legendary that later generations deified them. This allowed Snorri to narrate the myths as cultural and historical documentation rather than religious endorsement.

The Gylfaginning (Deluding of Gylfi), the heart of the text, presents Norse mythology in the form of a wisdom dialogue: a Swedish king named Gylfi travels to Asgard and is granted an audience with three mysterious divine kings (High, Just-as-High, and Third), to whom he poses questions about the cosmos. The kings' answers cover everything from creation to the nature of each god to the structure of the nine worlds to the coming of Ragnarok. The frame device of a mortal questioning divine figures about cosmic realities parallels biblical wisdom dialogues and gives the text a systematic, encyclopedic character that makes it the indispensable reference for Norse mythology.

Bible connections
  • Genesis 1-2 (creation narrative)
  • Revelation 20-21 (Ragnarok and new creation)
  • John 3:16 (beloved divine son)
  • 1 Corinthians 15:25-28 (subjection of all enemies)
  • Romans 1:20 (natural knowledge of God)
Key terms
Euhemerism– the theory that gods were originally powerful human figures who became deified in popular memory; Snorri's strategy for narrating pagan myths as a Christian
Kenning– a compound metaphorical phrase central to skaldic poetry (e.g., 'battle-dew' for blood); the mythological reference system the Prose Edda was written to explain
Ragnarok– the 'fate of the gods' or 'doom of the powers'; the Norse eschatological catastrophe in which the gods and the current world order are destroyed, followed by a new creation
Gylfaginning– 'The Deluding of Gylfi'; the mythological core of the Prose Edda, structured as a wisdom dialogue between a mortal king and three divine figures
Did you know?

Snorri Sturluson, who wrote the Prose Edda as a Christian, was assassinated in 1241 CE on the orders of the Norwegian king Haakon IV during a power struggle. He was found hiding in a cellar and killed. The man who preserved the Norse mythological tradition for posterity died a violent political death, a fate not unlike some of the heroic figures he wrote about.