The Younger Edda, known also as the "Prose Edda" or "Snorri's Edda" is an Icelandic manual of poetics which also contains many mythological stories. Its purpose was to enable Old Norse poets and readers to understand the subtleties of alliterative verse, and to grasp the meaning behind the many kennings that were used in the skaldic tradition.
It is attributed to the Icelandic scholar and historian Snorri Sturluson, and was written around 1220. It survives in seven main manuscripts, written from about 1300 to about 1600.
The Younger Edda consists of three distinct sections: the Gylfaginning (c 20 000 words), the Skáldskaparmál (c 50 000 words) and the Háttatal (c 20 000 words).
See also: Edda, Elder Edda.
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