Ambrosia Society

The Eddas



This colourful front page of the Prose Edda
in an 18th century Icelandic manuscript shows
Odin, Heimdallr, Sleipnir and other figures from Norse mythology.

The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends.

Neither the Poetic Edda or the Prose Edda are technically Sacred Texts, since they did not serve in any religious context like the Rig Veda Hymns or the New Testament. Although the Germanic people possessed the Runes, written texts appear to not have been used at all in ancient Germanic religious services. So complete is the destruction of the ancient Germanic and Norse “pagan” religion that what survives is just a tiny portion of the old Way. Most of what we know about the religion of Odin survives in “Norse Mythology” and Germanic Folk or Fairy Tales.

See these other Ambrosia Society pages for related information.

Odin

Poetic Mead

Outside links

Sacred-texts Poetic Edda

Sacred-texts Prose Edda

Sacred-texts Old Norse Poems

Sacred-texts The Sagas

Wikipedia Poetic Edda

Wikipedia Prose Edda

Wikipedia Skald