First passed down orally through innumerable generations of minstrels before the presence of Christianity in Scandinavia, and written down eventually by unknown poets, “The Poetic Edda” is a collection of mythological and heroic Old Norse poems. The bulk of the text was preserved for hundreds of years in the Codex Regius of Iceland, a 13th century manuscript which was largely unknown until its rediscovery in the 17th century. Upon this rediscovery it was immediately celebrated for its broad portrait of northern pagan beliefs and one of the most important sources of Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends. Split into two parts, the work relates the stories of Norse gods in its first part and mortal heroes in its second. A fascinating collection of poems that has stirred the imagination of artists and writers for centuries, from the musical works of Richard Wagner to the fantasy of J. R. R. Tolkien, “The Poetic Edda” will surely continue to inspire readers for generations to come. Presented here is the complete translation of Henry Adams Bellows.
