The Poetic Edda Decoded
eBook - ePub

The Poetic Edda Decoded

A Complete Guide to the Sacred Poems of Norse Mythology

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

The Poetic Edda Decoded

A Complete Guide to the Sacred Poems of Norse Mythology

About this book

You've heard of Odin. You've seen Thor. This is where they actually come from.

The Poetic Edda is the oldest surviving record of Norse mythology. Forty-five poems preserved in a thirteenth-century Icelandic manuscript, containing material centuries older than the manuscript itself. Creation and apocalypse. Gods who know they will lose and fight anyway. Heroes who walk into destruction with their eyes open.

The Poetic Edda Decoded opens this foundational corpus poem by poem — explaining the history, the structure, and the deeper meaning behind each text, turning a difficult and fragmented source into something clear and readable.

?? Complete analysis of all major poems: Völuspå, Håvamål, Lokasenna, the Völsung cycle, and more
?? Deep reading of the Hávamál and its runic tradition — wisdom, sacrifice, and the eighteen incantations of Odin
?? Full heroic cycle: Sigurðr, Brynhildr, GuðrĂșn — the Norse source behind Wagner, Tolkien, and the entire Germanic tradition
?? Instant access to a full translation of the Poetic Edda via QR code — the guide and the source text, in one place
?? Full glossary of key characters, gods, heroes, and cosmological terms

This is not just a summary — it is a way to actually read and understand the Poetic Edda.

If you want to understand Norse mythology at its source, this is where you start.

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Information

Publisher
Novus Liber
Year
2026
eBook ISBN
9781971761060

Table of contents

  1. Author's Note
  2. Introduction
  3. PART I — THE WORLD BEHIND THE WORDS
  4. 1. What Is the Poetic Edda?
  5. 2. Skalds, Seers, and Anonymous Voices
  6. 3. The Oral Tradition
  7. 4. How to Read Old Norse Poetry
  8. PART II — THE MYTHOLOGICAL POEMS
  9. 5. Völuspå: The Seeress Speaks
  10. 6. HĂĄvamĂĄl: The Words of the High One
  11. 7. VafĂŸrĂșðnismĂĄl: The Wisest of Giants
  12. 8. GrĂ­mnismĂĄl: The Lay of the Masked One
  13. 9. SkĂ­rnismĂĄl: The Price of Desire
  14. 10. Thor in Action: Hymiskviða and Þrymskviða
  15. 11. Lokasenna: The Flyting of Loki
  16. 12. Völundarkviða: The Smith and the Sky
  17. PART III — THE HEROIC POEMS
  18. 13. The Hero Cycle: Why It Belongs Here
  19. 14. The Helgi Poems: Love Beyond Death
  20. 15. The Völsung Cycle I: Dragon, Gold, and Curse
  21. 16. The Völsung Cycle II: Brynhildr and the Fall
  22. 17. Atlakviða and Atlamål: The Last Songs
  23. 18. Hamðismål: The Oldest Voice
  24. PART IV — LIVING WITH THE POETIC EDDA
  25. 19. The Poetic Edda and Modern Asatru Practice
  26. 20. Themes That Speak to Us Now
  27. 21. The Edda in the Modern World
  28. Appendix A — Glossary of Key Characters and Beings
  29. Appendix B — Guide to the Poems
  30. Appendix C — Which Translation Should You Read?

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