ICEL 1400 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Prose Edda, Icelandic Literary Prize, Ynglinga Saga
13 Apr 2018
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Document Summary
The crucial role of iceland"s medieval literary heritage in constituting both past and present icelandic cultural identity. A key element of this concerns old norse/ germanic mythological texts, somewhat paralleled supported in other cultural traditions (anglo-saxon; german; roman; arabic), but nowhere else in such abundance. i. e. poetic edda & prose edda. A collection of poems, many of which are thought to draw on mythological/spiritual/religious traditions long predating the arrival of christianity in the north of europe. Written down, however, in the late 13th century in iceland (roughly around 1270: nearly 300 years after christianity arrived in iceland. The so-called codex regius which preserves these poems was thought lost until iceland"s bishop brynjolfur sveinsson presented the manuscript as a gift to the danish king in. Attributed to the icelandic poet, historian, politician, etc. Snorri stuluson (1179-1241) and dated to the early 13th century (1220)
