The Younger Edda (tr. Anderson)/Brage's Talk

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The Younger Edda (1880)
by Snorri Sturluson, translated by Rasmus Bjørn Anderson

Brage's Talk

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The second part of the Younger Edda of Snorri Sturluson the Skáldskaparmál or 'language of poetry' is effectively a dialogue between the Norse god of the sea, Ægir and Bragi, the god of poetry, in which both Norse mythology and discourse on the nature of poetry are intertwined. The origin of a number of kennings are given and Bragi then delivers a systematic list of kennings for various people, places and things. Bragi then goes on to discuss poetic language in some detail, in particular heiti, the concept of poetical words which are non-periphrastic e.g. steed for horse, and again systematises these. This in a way forms an early form of poetic thesaurus.

Snorri Sturluson4493205The Younger Edda — Brage's Talk1880Rasmus Bjørn Anderson

BRAGE'S TALK.

Chapters (not listed in original)

BRAGE'S TALK.
CHAPTER I.
Æger's Journey to Asgard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		152
CHAPTER II.
Idun and her Apples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		155
CHAPTER III.
How Njord got Skade to Wife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		158
CHAPTER IV.
The Origin of Poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		160
Afterword to Brage's Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		166