Hello everyone! This is Casimir with The Skald’s Circle again. Today we’ll be talking about the Sagas and the Eddas.
Now, anyone who has dipped their toes into Norse mythology has likely read the Eddas. My first introduction to the Eddas were The Norse Myths by Kevin Crossley-Holland. It is a simple but very well written translation of the Norse myths — a great introduction for anyone interested in Norse Mythology. However, it is a… toned down version of the Prose Edda, recorded by Snorri Sturluson. I don’t mean toned down as in content, but toned down as in the wording is less archaic.
The next step for anyone interested in Norse mythology is likely my personal favorite, the Poetic Edda. The Poetic Edda unlike the Prose Edda has no known author or compiler. There are a few versions of the Poetic Edda. If you are looking for one that is very prettily written, I recommend the translation by Lee M. Hollander; however, if you want one that is easier to understand, while still pleasant to read, I highly recommend the Jackson Crawford translation.
Finally though, there comes the…advanced level reading of Norse myth, the Sagas. There are almost too many to name, but to give a few examples, The voluminous Sagas of the Icelanders, the wondrous Saga of the Volsungs, and the regal King’s Sagas. Penguin books offers excellent copies of all of these; do note that they only offer a selection of the Sagas of the Icelanders, there are in fact, literal volumes.
Now, I’ve mentioned them all and given a bit of information, and honestly, I could, and probably will write a whole article on each of these alone. I mentioned discussing the difference between the two early, and so, I shall. The words Sagas and Eddas both carry immense weight and power when spoken, full of ancient majesty and mysticism — however, there are differences. The word Edda has difficult to ascertain origins. Some say it originates from the Old Norse word for Poetry, and others that it is from an Icelandic place name for a church or school where students learned. Regardless, the Edda’s,as a rule, are about the gods and other mythical beings: Odin, Thor, Loki, Jotun, and others. All fascination, and undeniably magical beings.
Saga can very easily be traced to a known Old Norse word, which is the word Sogur, which means story or tale. The Sagas are, with one or two exceptions, almost exclusively realistic. To the point that we actually have evidence of the Sagas that we have found. For instance, the Saga of Leif Erikson has been confirmed through Viking Settlements found in Newfoundland. All of the stories within the Sagas could have very conceivably happened. Very few, aside from a few examples, have any magical or mythical encounters.
Those are the differences between the two. The Sagas are the stories of people who very possibly existed in history. The Eddas on the other hand are the recordings of the tales of the gods and their foes. All however are fascinating and amazing stories.
I hope you have enjoyed this lesson with History with the Skald’s Circle. If you’d like to know more, or perhaps discuss history with me I’m always more than willing. Also, if you have something you would like us to research, please let us know! Until then, I’ll be back next week with another fascinating topic. This is Casimir signing off, and remember to always check your sources!
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