Prologue (Prose Edda) in the context of "Prose Edda"

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⭐ Core Definition: Prologue (Prose Edda)

The Prologue is the first section of four books of the Prose Edda, and consists of a euhemerized account of the origins of Norse mythology. According to the Prologue, the Norse gods originate from the Trojans described in Homer's poetry, and are King Priam's descendants. Priam's grandson Thor traveled throughout the world after leaving Thrace, fighting monsters and a dragon; he eventually came far north where he married a local named Sif. From them descended both the Norse gods as well as royal lines of various kingdoms.

Regarding the euhemerization in the Prologue, Anthony Faulkes wrote that "undoubtedly one of the motives for including the prologue, and maybe the chief reason for the use of the frame device itself, was to avoid the criticism that his stories were dangerous to [Christian] orthodoxy". Rather than pagan gods, the figures of Norse legend are refashioned as human figures, if noble and powerful ones.

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👉 Prologue (Prose Edda) in the context of Prose Edda

The Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, Snorri's Edda (Icelandic: Snorra Edda) or, historically, simply as Edda, is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often considered to have been to some extent written, or at least compiled, by the Icelandic scholar, lawspeaker, and historian Snorri Sturluson c. 1220. It is considered the fullest and most detailed source for modern knowledge of Norse mythology, the body of myths of the North Germanic peoples, and draws from a wide variety of sources, including versions of poems that survive into today in a collection known as the Poetic Edda.

The Prose Edda consists of four sections: The Prologue, a euhemerized account of the Norse gods; Gylfaginning, which provides a question and answer format that details aspects of Norse mythology (consisting of approximately 20,000 words), Skáldskaparmál, which continues this format before providing lists of kennings and heiti (approximately 50,000 words); and Háttatal, which discusses the composition of traditional skaldic poetry (approximately 20,000 words).

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Prologue (Prose Edda) in the context of Gylfaginning

Gylfaginning (Old Norse: 'The Beguiling of Gylfi' or 'The Deluding of Gylfi'; 13th century Old Norse pronunciation [ˈɟʏlvaˌɟɪnːɪŋɡ]) is the first main part of the 13th-century Prose Edda, after the initial Prologue. The Gylfaginning takes the form of a dialogue between a Swedish King Gylfi and three men on thrones in Asgard called High, Just-As-High, and Third. Gylfi asks many questions of the three men on the history and future of the Æsir. The creation and eventual destruction of the world are described, as are many other aspects of Norse mythology. While the Gylfaginning never makes it explicit, the three are often presumed to be guises of Odin.

The second part of the Prose Edda is the Skáldskaparmál and the third Háttatal. The work is often attributed to or considered to have been compiled by Snorri Sturluson.

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