Checked against Rasmus Björn Anderson’s introduction to the Younger Edda (Project Gutenberg) · Published 31 October 2026
Snorri Sturluson
History Snorri Sturluson (Snorre Sturleson in Anderson’s spelling) was born in Iceland in 1178. Snorri Sturluson, The Younger Edda (the Prose Edda), trans. Rasmus B. Anderson, Project Gutenberg ↗
History Snorri was killed at Reykholt in Iceland on 22 September 1241, aged sixty-three. Snorri Sturluson, The Younger Edda (the Prose Edda), trans. Rasmus B. Anderson, Project Gutenberg ↗
History The Annales Breviores, thought to have been written about 1400, say that Snorri ‘compiled Edda’. Snorri Sturluson, The Younger Edda (the Prose Edda), trans. Rasmus B. Anderson, Project Gutenberg ↗
Literature Anderson names Snorre Sturleson and Olaf Thordsson Hvitaskald as the two men most closely connected with the Younger Edda. Snorri Sturluson, The Younger Edda (the Prose Edda), trans. Rasmus B. Anderson, Project Gutenberg ↗
Manuscripts and printed books
History The Codex Regius manuscript of the Younger Edda was given to the Royal Library in Copenhagen in 1640. Snorri Sturluson, The Younger Edda (the Prose Edda), trans. Rasmus B. Anderson, Project Gutenberg ↗
History Another manuscript was presented to Upsala University in 1669 by Count Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie. Snorri Sturluson, The Younger Edda (the Prose Edda), trans. Rasmus B. Anderson, Project Gutenberg ↗
History The first printed edition of the Younger Edda, the ‘Edda Islandorum’, was published by Peter Johannes Resen in Copenhagen in 1665. Snorri Sturluson, The Younger Edda (the Prose Edda), trans. Rasmus B. Anderson, Project Gutenberg ↗
The Elder Edda
Literature The Younger Edda often quotes older poems from the Elder Edda, such as the Vala’s Prophecy. Snorri Sturluson, The Younger Edda (the Prose Edda), trans. Rasmus B. Anderson, Project Gutenberg ↗
History The mythological part of the Elder Edda was first published in English by A. S. Cottle, in Bristol, in 1797. Snorri Sturluson, The Younger Edda (the Prose Edda), trans. Rasmus B. Anderson, Project Gutenberg ↗
History Benjamin Thorpe’s translation of the whole Elder Edda was published in London in 1866. Snorri Sturluson, The Younger Edda (the Prose Edda), trans. Rasmus B. Anderson, Project Gutenberg ↗
The translation on this site
Literature The Younger Edda used on this site is the English translation by Rasmus Björn Anderson, free on Project Gutenberg. Snorri Sturluson, The Younger Edda (the Prose Edda), trans. Rasmus B. Anderson, Project Gutenberg ↗
Anderson’s translation dates from 1879 (the free Project Gutenberg text is from a 1901 printing) and spells the names in an older way: Snorre for Snorri, Loke for Loki, Ygdrasil for Yggdrasil. Our retellings keep his spellings so you can find each story in the free text.
Follow the thread
Snorri Sturluson, The Younger Edda (the Prose Edda), trans. Rasmus B. Anderson, Project Gutenberg ↗
Retellings are in our own words. Every sentence above carries a label (History, Literature or Tradition) and a link to the source it was checked against. A legend is not a historical record.
Source method & more reading ↗