'Sæmundar og Snorra Edda' is the name (however accurate or otherwise) given to a 1760 Icelandic manuscript by Ólafur Brynjúlfsson.
There are two major sources that chronicle the legends of Norse mythology.
The 'Poetic Edda' (or 'Sæmundar Edda' or 'Elder Edda') is a collection of alliterative poems (Edda) from the 13th century Icelandic Codex Regius. [Erroneously attributed to a 12th century Icelanic priest, Sæmundar Sigfússon - so sayeth the modern scholars]. The poems are thought to date from the 10th century.
The 'Younger Edda' (or 'Prose Edda' or 'Snorri Edda'), which includes a narrative of Norse mythology and a manual for understanding the nuances of the alliterative poetics, was written by the Icelandic historian and parliamentarian, Snorri Sturluson, also in the 13th century.
- The Ólafur Brynjúlfsson manuscript contains material from both the Younger and Elder Edda and is accompanied by the above wonderfully eccentric illustrations. The work is online at the Royal Danish Library. I haven't been all the way through the site but I think I've posted all the illustrations. Although there is a large body of Icelandic manuscripts available online, most that I've seen are bare text, so it's nice to come across a decorated example.
- Norse mythology at wikipedida.
- A translated italian page with descriptions of each of the illustrations.
- Norse links.
- 'Poetic Edda' translation at Sacred Texts: "Many of the texts at sacred-texts are of interest only to the specialist, somewhat like small art movies. By contrast The Poetic Eddas, the oral literature of Iceland which were finally written down from 1000-1300 A.D, are like big summer movies, full of gore, sex, revenge and apocalyptic violence. This translation of the Poetic Eddas is highly readable."
- "The Elder Eddas of Sæmundar Sigfússon and The Younger Eddas of Snorre Sturleson" - a complete scanned copy of a 1906 book at the University of Georgia.
- Facsimile images of the Codex Regius.
- 'Snorri's Hot Tub, Reykholt, Iceland' by Jeffry Vallance at Fortean Times.
Those are some incredible images! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteGreat, Thank you.
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