Alfaleith.org - The Prose Edda

Snorri's familiarity with the Elder or Poetic Edda is demonstrated by his frequent quotations from Völuspá, Hávamál, Grímnismál, Vafthrúdnissmál, Alsvinnsmaál or Alvissmál, and Grostasöngr. He knew Lokasenna as well, but confused three stanzas, apparently failing to remember the order [xix] in his original. One poem that he mentions is lacking in the Poetic Edda as we know it: Heimdallargaldr, the Song or Incantation of Heimdallr; moreover, he makes seventeen citations from other poems which, although lost to us, evidently formed portions of the original Eddic collections, or belonged to the same traditional stock. The disappearance of the manuscript which Snorri used is a great loss.

The first translation of the Prose Edda was published at Copenhagen in 1665, when the complete text appeared, with Latin and Danish interpretation. This was entitled Edda islandorum an. Chr. 1215 islandice conscripta per Snorronem Sturlæ, nunc primum islandice, danice, et latine ex antiquis codicibus in lucem prodit opera P. F. Resenii. The standard Danish translation is that of R. Nyerup, Copenhagen, 1865. In 1746, J. Göransson printed at Upsala the first Swedish version, with a Latin translation. Göransson's original was the Codex Upsaliensis. Anders Uppström made an independent translation in 1859.

In 1755—56 there appeared at Copenhagen a work of the greatest importance for the study of Scandinavian antiquities in England: Mallet's Monumens de la Mythologie et de la Poesie des Celtes et Particulièrement des Ancient Scandinaves. This book, which comprised a general introduction on the ancient Scandinavian civilization, a translation of Gylfaginning, and a synopsis of Skáldskaparmál and Háttatal, was turned into English by Bishop Percy, under the title of Northern Antiquities. Percy claimed to know Göransson's text as well as the French. Northern Antiquities was published at London in 1770, and was reprinted at Edinburgh in 1809, with additions by Sir Walter Scott.

The best-known translation, and the only complete one which is at all trustworthy, is that in Latin, combined,with [xx] the Icelandic text, in the Arnamagnæan edition, Copenhagen, 1848—87.

In 1842, G. W. Dasent, the translator of Njáls Saga, and a prominent scholar in the Scandinavian field, printed at Stockholm his Prose or Younger Edda, which contains a translation of Gylfaginning and of the narrative passages of Skáldskaparmál. A similarly incomplete English version was printed at Chicago, in 188o, by Rasmus B. Anderson. Professor Anderson also edited a combined translation of both Eddas, the Poetic Edda by Benjamin Thorpe, and the Prose Edda by I. A. Blackwell. Blackwell's translation, which stops with Bragarædur, had first appeared at London in 1847, together with an abstract of Eyrbyggja Saga by Scott. Samuel Laing's translation is likewise incomplete.

A French version of Gylfaginning, La Fascination de Gulfi, was published at Strassburg by F. G. Bergmann. A second edition appeared in 1871.

So far as I can ascertain, the first translation into Ger man was the work of Friedrich Rühs, Berlin, 1812. This contains a long historical introduction, and ends with the story of the Völsungs in Skáldskaparmál. Karl Simrock's Die Jüngere Edda, published in 1851 and reprinted in 1855, although incomplete, is more accurate than any earlier translation, and is remarkable for its literary excellence. The most scholarly rendering into German is by Hugo Gering, Leipzig, 1892, but unfortunately it includes only the narrative portions of the book.

Until 1900, the best edition of Snorri's Edda was by Thórleifr Jónsson, Copenhagen, 1875. This was superseded by Finnur Jónsson's splendid Danish edition. In 1907, Professor Jónsson produced an Icelandic edition, [xxi] which forms volume xli of the Íslendinga Sögur, published at Reykjavík.

It was fortunate for me that these last two editions appeared before I began my work. Professor Jónsson provided me with an excellent text; and, second in value only to this, with an index and an invaluable Icelandic prose rephrasing of the skaldic verses.

I regret exceedingly that the highly technical nature of Háttatal forbids translation into English. There are, to be sure, more or less—usually less—accurate translations into Scandinavian and into Latin. Even in the excellent Arnamagnæan edition, many of the glosses are purely conjectural; and any attempt to convey into English a vocabulary which has no equivalent in our language must fail. Skáldskaparmál, however, is here presented, complete, for the first time in English.

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