Hello there! Yes, you, sitting in front of your computer reading this! Do you know anything about Thor? Forget about what you know about the comic book character, because the Thor
that Thor is based on is even cooler. It's like... Well it's like a movie being based on a book. Obviously the original Thor and the comic book Thor are technically both "book" Thors, but I'm talking about an older book. It's called the Prose Edda, which is a manuscript written by one Snorri Sturlson, who also happens to the be author of the Poetic Edda (yes,
that Poetic Edda, I was excited too!). There's a lot of speculation as to who the hell Snorri was (can I call him Snorri? It's a bit informal, but do I really have to call someone 800 years dead "sir"?). Some say that he was an adventuring priest who got shit done. The other version is that he was a priest, but also the son of a politician. It's also been speculated that through some shady dealings, Snorri's father was assassinated, and Snorri was behind it. Now, personally, I can't condemn a man named Snorri, which is probably why they don't ask me back for jury duty. I like to go with the badass priest story. I'm sure he was a politician (well
Wikipedia says it at least, and
that's a reliable source), but I'm hoping he was one of those cool guys who decided to travel around because he was the son of a very powerful man and could do that sort of thing over spring break while everyone else is in Florida.
Snorri was alive during the
Christianization of Iceland and the other Scandinavian countries, which sucks, but what can you do about it? I guess at some point he decided that he wanted the dying mythology to be recorded, and because of that, I present to you, The Prose Edda; Interpreted by Me. Man, that really needs a picture drawn in crayon...
 |
| Not crayon, but aaaaw yeeeeaaah. |
Anyway, like
everything else I do, I don't have much of a "true" background, meaning a degree or formal study, but for about a year I studied the Norse language and spent half a year reading the entire Prose Edda and about 75% of the Poetic Edda. At the beginning of this school year, I reread most of the Gylfaginning, the first, and best known, part of the Prose. So my senior year of high school I used to regale my friends with tales from the Eddas. But of course I'm not going to be able to memorize Norse poetry, that's ridiculous. Here's a sample from the actual poems:
1. "Sawest thou Sigrlin, | Svafnir's daughter,
The fairest maid | in her home-land found?
Though Hjorvath's wives | by men are held
Goodly to see | in Glasir's wood."
So for their sake and mine, I paraphrased. They seemed to enjoy it, and I think you will too. So without further ado, to you and you and you,
The Gylfaginning.
All texts here and following are taken from
Sacred Texts and is considered Public Domain. For the Prose to see what the hell I'm talking about, click
here. For the crazy/wordy Poetic Edda coming much later, click
here!
