Gylfaginning

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For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Expatriate in Bangor, Maine.

The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson.

Translated by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur, 1888 to 1971.

Prologue to the Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson, translated by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur, 1888-1971.

This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.

Recording by Expatriate in Bangor, Maine.

These three divisions, but for the evidence of the manuscripts, might seem to afford ground for assuming plural authorship.

The first part, the Gylfaginning, or beguiling of Gylfi, is an epitome of Odinic mythology, cast in the form of a dialogue between Gylfi, a legendary Swedish king, and the triune Odin.

Snorri, though a Christian, tells the old pagan tales with obvious relish, and often in the enthusiasm of the true antiquary rises to magnificent heights.

Ever and again he fortifies his narrative with citations from the poetic Edda, the great treasure house of Scandinavian mythological and heroic poetry.

One passes from Gylfaginning to Skaldskaparmal with very little shock, in spite of the great difference in subject and treatment, which the author has attempted rather skillfully to modulate through a second dialogue.

The questioner this time is one Aegir, and replies are made by the god Bragi, famed for eloquence and the gift of poetic expression.

This intermediate dialogue, called Bragarreidur, or Bragi's discourses, strikes the keynote of the entire book, and really reconciles the first section to the second and third, whose dissimilarity to Gylfaginning had led some scholars to believe that one or the other is not Snorri's work.

The god relates several adventures of the Aesir of the same character as those recounted in Gylfaginning, and concludes with a myth concerning the origin of the poetic art.

These three divisions, but for the evidence of the manuscripts, might seem to afford ground for assuming plural authorship.

The first part, the Gylfaginning, or Beguiling of Gylfi, is an epitome of Odinic mythology, cast in the form of a dialogue between Gylfi, a legendary Swedish king, and the triune Odin.

Snorri, though a Christian, tells the old pagan tales with obvious relish, and often in the enthusiasm of the true antiquary rises to magnificent heights.

Ever and again he fortifies his narrative with citations from the Poetic Edda, the great treasure house of Scandinavian mythological and heroic poetry.

One passes from Gylfaginning to Skaldskaparmal with very little shock, in spite of the great difference in subject and treatment, which the author has attempted rather skillfully to modulate through a second dialogue.

The questioner this time is one Aegir, and replies are made by the god Bragi, famed for eloquence and the gift of poetic expression.

This intermediate dialogue, called Bragariddur, or Bragi's Discourses, strikes the key-note of the entire book, and really reconciles the first section to the second and third, whose dissimilarity to Gylfaginning had led some scholars to believe that one or the other is not Snorri's work.

The god relates several adventures of the Aesir of the same character as those recounted in Gylfaginning, and concludes with a myth concerning the origin of the poetic art.

Samuel Lang's translation is likewise incomplete.

A French version of Gylfaginning, La Fascination de Gylfi, was published at Strasbourg by F. G. Bergmann.

A second edition appeared in 1871.

So far as I can ascertain, the first translation into German was the work of Friedrich Roos, Berlin 1812.

Night rides before with the horse named Frostymane, and on each morning he bedews the earth with the foam from his bit.

The horse that Day has is called Sheenmane, and he illumines all the air and the earth from his mane.

End of Gylfaginning sections one through ten.

Recording by Expatria in Bangor, Maine.

Formale, or the prologue, 2.

Gylfaginning, the deluding of Gylfi, 3.

Brage Rödder, conversations of Bragi, 4.

Eptormali, after discourse, or epilogue.

Snorri, officially, in writing the Prose Edda, was seeking to preserve the stories of the Icelanders so that Icelandic poetry would not die out and could be maintained.

This is why he has the Gylfaginning, which is the main body of the Prose Edda, that describes the different myths in prose form and gives context, names, common kennings, and all kinds of other similar guideposts and rundowns that allow someone to get a grasp of what it is that the Skalds are talking about.

And then the Skaldasparmal, or the Skaldic Manual, which describes the rules of Icelandic poetry, which are derived from the broader body of Nordic poetry.

The final section, the Hatatal, describes the verse forms that are used within this literary form.

In, in an Icelandic writing, even the gods get in on this action.

Uh, in the 42nd chapter of the Gylfaginning, there's a story about a giant disguised as a master builder who promises to build a protecting wall around all of Asgard.

But in exchange, he wants the sun, and the moon, and the goddess Freyja as his wife.

The gods refuse, probably because Freyja is standing right there glaring at them.

These three divisions, but for the evidence of the manuscripts, might seem to afford ground for assuming plural authorship.

The first part, the Gylfaginning, or beguiling of Gylfi, is an epitome of Odinic mythology, cast in the form of a dialogue between Gylfi, a legendary Swedish king, and the triune Odin.

Snorri, though a Christian, tells the old pagan tales with obvious relish, and often in the enthusiasm of the true antiquary rises to magnificent heights.

Ever and again he fortifies his narrative with citations from the poetic Edda, the great treasure house of Scandinavian mythological and heroic poetry.

One passes from Gylfaginning to Skaldskaparmal with very little shock, in spite of the great difference in subject and treatment, which the author has attempted rather skillfully to modulate through a second dialogue.

The questioner this time is one Ygir, and replies are made by the god Bragi, famed for eloquence and the gift of poetic expression.

This intermediate dialogue, called Bragaridur, or Bragi's Discourses, strikes the keynote of the entire book, and really reconciles the first section to the second and third, whose dissimilarity to Gylfaginning had led some scholars to believe that one or the other is not Snorri's work.

The god relates several adventures of the Aesir of the same character as those recounted in Gylfaginning, and concludes with a myth concerning the origin of the poetic art.

These three divisions, but for the evidence of the manuscripts, might seem to afford ground for assuming plural authorship.

The first part, the Gylfaginning, or Beguiling of Gylfi, is an epitome of Odinic mythology, cast in the form of a dialogue between Gylfi, a legendary Swedish king, and the triune Odin.

Snorri, though a Christian, tells the old pagan tales with obvious relish, and often in the enthusiasm of the true antiquary rises to magnificent heights.

Ever and again he fortifies his narrative with citations from the poetic Edda, the great treasure house of Scandinavian mythological and heroic poetry.

One passes from Gylfaginning to Skaldskaparmal with very little shock, in spite of the great difference in subject and treatment, which the author has attempted rather skillfully to modulate through a second dialogue.

The questioner this time is one Aegir, and replies are made by the god Bragi, famed for eloquence and the gift of poetic expression.

This intermediate dialogue, called Bragarreidur, or Bragi's Discourses, strikes the keynote of the entire book, and really reconciles the first section to the second and third, whose dissimilarity to Gylfaginning had led some scholars to believe that one or the other is not Snorri's work.

The god relates several adventures of the Aesir of the same character as those recounted in Gylfaginning, and concludes with a myth concerning the origin of the poetic art.

These three divisions, but for the evidence of the manuscripts, might seem to afford ground for assuming plural authorship.

The first part, the Gylfaginning, or Beguiling of Gylfi, is an epitome of Odinic mythology, cast in the form of a dialogue between Gylfi, a legendary Swedish king, and the triune Odin.

Snorri, though a Christian, tells the old pagan tales with obvious relish, and often in the enthusiasm of the true antiquary rises to magnificent heights.

Ever and again he fortifies his narrative with citations from the Poetic Edda, the great treasure house of Scandinavian mythological and heroic poetry.

One passes from Gylfaginning to Skaldskaparmal with very little shock, in spite of the great difference in subject and treatment, which the author has attempted rather skillfully to modulate through a second dialogue.

The questioner this time is one Aegir, and replies are made by the god Bragi, famed for eloquence and the gift of poetic expression.

This intermediate dialogue, called Bragaridur, or Bragi's Discourses, strikes the keynote of the entire book, and really reconciles the first section to the second and third, whose dissimilarity to Gylfaginning had led some scholars to believe that one or the other is not Snorri's work.

The god relates several adventures of the Aesir of the same character as those recounted in Gylfaginning, and concludes with a myth concerning the origin of the poetic art.