E
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sometimes known as the Snorra Edda or Younger Edda.
The Eddas are the main sources of knowledge about
Norse mythology.
The Poetic Edda is a collection of poems on
mythological and legendary themes, written down
at different times and by different poets between the
eighth and 13th centuries. They were discovered in
1643 by the Icelandic bishop Brynjólfur Sveinsson.
The Poetic Edda was sometimes called Saemund’s Edda
in the mistaken belief that it had been written by the
medieval bishop Saemund Sigfusson.
The Prose Edda, “younger” because it was not put
to paper until around 1220, was written by Icelandic
poet, historian, and diplomat Snorri Sturluson. It is
a handbook of Norse mythology, designed as a guide
for poets to encourage them to write in the style of
the ancient poets of the Viking age.
These two great books helped keep alive the
memory of the ancient gods and their exploits, which
otherwise might have been lost forever with the com-
ing of Christianity to the northern lands.
eagle A symbol of strength and death in Norse
mythology. The eagle was also an image of the
battlefield, for it often ate at the dead bodies.
An eagle was one of the three birds of Odin—the
other two were ravens—who was the god of death,
among other things. Odin is often pictured with an
eagle. He occasionally took on the form of an eagle,
as did other gods and giants. An eagle also sat on
the topmost branches of Yggdrasil, the World Tree,
where it flapped its wings and created the winds in
Midgard, the world of humans.
Many images of the eagle appear in stone carv-
ings dating from the era of the Norse gods and
found in Scandinavia. They also appear frequently
on helmets and small brooches. The eagle’s curved
beak distinguishes this bird from ravens, which have
straight beaks.
E arth
In Old Norse, both Jord and Fjorgyn (1)
mean “Earth.” Both are names of mythological beings
and are used at times to refer to the land or the soil.
Jord is the most frequent name used for the giantess
who was the mother of Thor, son of Odin; in this
role she is sometimes known as Fjorgyn. Jord is also
found in skaldic poetry as a name for the celestial
body Earth.
E ggther A giant. Eggther was the watchman
of the giants who announces the beginning of
Ragnarok, the great conflict that ends the world of
the Norse gods. He is mentioned and named only
in the V oluspa , a poem in the P oetic E dda . In that
poem, Eggther, called “the joyous,” sat upon a hill
and played his harp while the cock Fjalar crowed to
awaken the giants for this f inal battle.
E arth M other (Earth
Goddess) A general
name for a female spirit or deity worshipped by
peoples all over the world. Believers prayed to her
for fine weather and good crops, for food and shelter,
and for numerous sons and daughters. In Norse
mythology, the first Earth goddesses had no distinct
form but later were identified with Jord, Fjorgyn (1),
Frigg, and Freya.
E gil
Two characters with this name appear in
Norse mythology. The existing documents leave it
unclear whether each use of the name referred to one
figure or to different people. Egil, apparently, was a
common name in the folklore of Scandinavia.
One person named Egil was a servant of Thor,
according to Snorri Sturluson. He guarded Thor’s
E ddas , T he
Two distinct works: the P oetic
E dda , also called the Elder Edda, and the P rose E dda ,
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