( xix )
Odin,” the Giants, “the Sons of the Frost,” &c. they would naturally wish to know the origin of such singular modes of speech. It was then to render this knowledge easy, that the Author of the Edda wrote; nor am I surprized, that this book hath appeared whimsical and unintelligible to those who were ignorant of its design.
Hence likewise we learn why this work came to be divided into Two principal parts. The First consists of this brief System of Mythology, necessary for understanding the ancient Scalds, and for perceiving the force of the Figures, Epithets and Allusions with which their poetry abounds. This is properly called the Edda. The Second is a kind of Art of Poetry, which contains a Catalogue of the Words most commonly used by the Poets, together with Explanations and Remarks; it contains also a treatise on the ancient Language, and Orthography; and an explication of the Structure and Measure of their different sorts of Verse. Hence it is, that this part is called Scalda or Poetics. It is very extensive, and leads one to suppose that this people had among them a vast number of Bards, and that the Author possessed an uncommon depth of erudition on these subjects. The Reader will doubtless be surprized to find so compleat a Treatise
