90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books
Composed in Iceland in the 13th Century, The Prose Edda is the most renowned of all works of Scandinavian literature, taking readers on a voyage through an enthralling world of gods, giants, dwarfs and monsters. From the beginning of the universe to the dreaded Twilight of the Gods, this is the most extensive source of Norse mythology surviving today.
Snorri Sturluson (11791241) was born in western Iceland, the son of an upstart Icelandic chieftain. In the early thirteenth century, Snorri rose to become Icelands richest and, for a time, its most powerful leader. Twice he was elected law-speaker at the Althing, Icelands national assembly, and twice he went abroad to visit Norwegian royalty. An ambitious and sometimes ruthless leader, Snorri was also a man of learning, with deep interests in the myth, poetry and history of the Viking Age. He has long been assumed to be the author of some of medieval Icelands greatest works, including the Prose Edda and Heimskringla, the latter a saga history of the kings of Norway.
