SOURCE: "Were the Mythological Poems of the Edda Composed in the Pre-Christian Era?," in The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Vol. XXVI, 1927, pp. 96-105.

In the following essay, Hollander examines the problem of dating the Eddic poems and considers their relation to paganism and Christianity.

"Concerning the mythological poems of the Edda, it follows from their very contents and their relation to paganism that they were composed in heathen times. Precisely this fact is an excellent point of departure for dating them."

I quote this assertion from Finnur Jónsson's (shorter) 'History of Icelandic Literature';¹ but with more or fewer reservations this is, indeed, the sentiment of practically all scholars who have ventured opinions on this vexed question of the date and provenience of the Eddic lays.²

So far, neither the study of metre, of language, of legendary form, nor of specific references, or any other philological...