Prose Edda
Articles tagged Prose Edda.
Laufey: Loki’s Mother Who Barely Survives the Eddas
Laufey appears in the Eddas as Loki’s mother, but almost without a story. The sources reveal a famous name built on thin evidence.
Ratatoskr: The Gossiping Squirrel on Yggdrasil Explained
Ratatoskr only appears in two Old Norse sources, but the gossiping troublemaker may be Snorri’s own invention, not older tradition.
Hel: Norse Mythology’s Half-Dead Goddess
Hel a death goddess ruling a frozen hall, a half-rotten body, and a realm of oaths broken—how did Hel become one of Norse myth’s...
Snorri Sturluson: Our Most Important Source for Norse Myth?
Snorri Sturluson wrote the Prose Edda two centuries after Iceland’s conversion. His handbook for poets is essential, but it is also a Christian rationalization.
Loki’s Children: Hel, Fenrir, and Jörmungandr
Loki’s Children the Norse sources name three children born to Loki and the giantess Angrboda, and each one plays a specific structural role in...
Fenrir and Gleipnir: The Chain That Bound the Wolf
What the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda say about the binding of Fenrir, what Gleipnir was made from, and what Tyr’s sacrifice meant in...
Útgarða-Loki: How Illusion Made Thor Look Weak
What the Gylfaginning of the Prose Edda says about Útgarða-Loki, why the contests were unwinnable, and what this reveals about Norse cosmology.
Loki’s Children: Hel, Fenrir, and Jörmungandr
Loki’s Children the Norse sources name three children born to Loki and the giantess Angrboda, and each one plays a specific structural...
Fenrir and Gleipnir: The Chain That Bound the Wolf
What the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda say about the binding of Fenrir, what Gleipnir was made from, and what Tyr’s sacrifice...
Útgarða-Loki: How Illusion Made Thor Look Weak
What the Gylfaginning of the Prose Edda says about Útgarða-Loki, why the contests were unwinnable, and what this reveals about Norse cosmology.