SOURCE: Ciklamini, Marlene. “The Prose Edda” and “Snorri's History of the Norwegian Kings to the Reign of Óláfr the Saint: Heimskringla, ca. 1230.” In Snorri Sturluson, pp. 43-91. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1978.

In the following excerpt, Ciklamini provides overviews of the three sections of the Prose Edda and of the sagas found in Heimskringla.

I Introduction

Snorri's best-known and most popular work is probably the Prose Edda.¹ With the exception of some skaldic poems it is also the earliest work Snorri composed. Its history of origin is interesting. Snorri first conceived and executed a part of the work that today is read only by specialists, a long poem and metrical commentary named Háttatal, “Enumeration of Poetical Meters.” In modern editions and in the manuscripts this part is the third and last section of the work, a position which indicates that the composition lacks intrinsic interest. In composing the...