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The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' ((アイスランド語:Snorra Edda)) or simply ''Edda'', is an Old Norse work of literature written in Iceland in the early 13th century. Together with the ''Poetic Edda'', it comprises the major store of Scandinavian mythology. The work is often assumed to have been written, or at least compiled, by the Icelandic scholar and historian Snorri Sturluson around the year 1220. It begins with a euhemerized Prologue, a section on the Norse cosmogony, pantheon and myths.〔''The Macmillan Encyclopedia''; rev. ed. London: Macmillan, 1983; p. 395〕 This is followed by three distinct books: ''Gylfaginning'' (consisting of around 20,000 words), ''Skáldskaparmál'' (around 50,000 words) and ''Háttatal'' (around 20,000 words). Seven manuscripts, dating from around 1300 to around 1600, have independent textual value. Sturluson planned the collection as a textbook. It was to enable Icelandic poets and readers to understand the subtleties of alliterative verse, and to grasp the meaning behind the many kenningar (compounds) that were used in skaldic poetry. The ''Prose Edda'' was originally referred to as simply the ''Edda'', but was later called the ''Prose Edda'' to distinguish it from the ''Poetic Edda'', a collection of anonymous poetry from earlier traditional sources compiled around the same time as the ''Prose Edda'' in 13th century Iceland.〔Faulkes (1995:XI).〕 The ''Prose Edda'' is related to the ''Poetic Edda'' in that the ''Prose Edda'' cites various poems collected in the ''Poetic Edda'' as sources.〔Byock (2006:IX).〕 ==Etymology== The etymology of "Edda" remains uncertain. There are many hypotheses, and little agreement. Some argue that the word derives from the name of Oddi, a town in the south of Iceland where Snorri was raised. Edda could therefore mean "book of Oddi." However, this assumption is generally rejected. Anthony Faulkes, author of an edition and an English translation of the Edda, considered this was "unlikely, both in terms of linguistics and history"〔Snorri Sturluson. ''Edda''. Translated and edited by Anthony Faulkes. London : Dent, 1995. (The Everyman library). First published in 1987. ISBN 0-460-87616-3.〕 since Snorri was no longer living at Oddi when he composed his work. Another connection was made with the word "óðr", which means "poetry or inspiration" in Old Norse.〔 According to Faulkes, though such a connection is plausible semantically, it is unlikely that "Edda" could have been coined in the 13th century on the basis of "óðr", because such a development "would have had to have taken place gradually", and "Edda" in the sense of "poetics" is not likely to have existed in the preliterary period.〔Anthony Faulkes. ''(Edda )''. Originally published in Gripla II, Reykjavík 1977, pp. 32–39.〕 Edda also means "great-parent", a word used by Snorri himself in the Skáldskaparmál. That is, with the same meaning, the name of a character in the Rigsthula and other medieval texts. This hypothesis has attracted François-Xavier Dillmann, author of a French translation of the Edda, who said "it seems likely that this person's name was chosen as the title of the work due to the fact that it was a collection of ancient knowledge"〔Snorri Sturluson. ''L'Edda : récits de mythologie nordique''. Traduit du vieil-islandais, introduit et annoté par François-Xavier Dillmann. Paris : Gallimard, 2003. (L'Aube des peuples). ISBN 2-07-072114-0.〕 or, in the words of Régis Boyer, the "grandparent of all sacred knowledge".〔Boyer, Régis., ''L'Edda poétique'', présentation et trad. 2002, (Fayard).〕 A final hypothesis is derived from the Latin ''"edo"'', meaning "I write". It relies on the fact that the word ''"kredda"'' (meaning "belief") is certified and comes from the Latin ''"credo"'', "I believe." It seems likely Snorri would have been able to invent the word. Edda in this case could be translated as "Poetic Art". This is the meaning that the word was then given in the Middle Ages.〔 The name Sæmundar Edda was given by the Bishop Brynjólfur Sveinsson to the collection of poems contained in the Codex Regius, many of which are quoted by Snorri. Brynjólfur, along with many others of his time incorrectly believed that they were collected by Sæmundr fróði (therefore before the drafting of the Edda of Snorri), and so the Poetic Edda is also known as the Elder Edda. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Prose Edda」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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