Codex Regius
From Free net encyclopedia
The Codex Regius is an Icelandic manuscript (See also Codex) in which the Poetic Edda is preserved and which is thought to have been written in the 1270s. Many of the poems and stories contained in it pre-date the conversion of Scandinavia to Christianity in the late tenth century. It was found by the bishop of Skálholt, Brynjólfur Sveinsson in 1643 and was presented to King Frederick III of Denmark.
The Codex Regius is also known erroneously as the Eldar Edda or Sæmundar Edda. The word Edda was originally used by Snorri Sturluson. Bishop Brynjólfur Sveinsson had known about the works contained within the Codex Regius and had considered them lost. In a letter to a friend he states that the collection is part of that, "great body of human wisdom which Sæmund the Wise collected".
It is worthy of note that Snorri Sturluson's work (known as Snorri Edda, Prose Edda or the Younger Edda) is likely to have been written long before the Codex Regius had been compiled. <ref name="larrington">Larrinton, C: "The Poetic Edda", pages xi - xii. Oxford University Press, 1996</ref>
Codex Regius was stored on the mainland, at the Royal Library in Copenhagen until April 21. 1971, when it was brought back to Reykjavík and is now kept in the Árni Magnússon Institute. Since air travel was not to be entirely trusted at the time with such precious cargo, it was transported by ship, accompanied by a military escort.
Contents
- Völuspá
- Hávamál
- Vafþrúðnismál
- Grímnismál
- Skírnismál
- Hárbarðsljóð
- Hymiskviða
- Lokasenna
- Þrymskviða
- Völundarkviða
- Alvíssmál
- Helgakviða Hundingsbana I
- Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar
- Helgakviða Hundingsbana II
- Frá dauða Sinfjötla
- Grípisspá
- Reginsmál
- Fáfnismál
- Sigrdrífumál
- The Great Lacuna
- Brot af Sigurðarkviðu
- Guðrúnarkviða I
- Sigurðarkviða hin skamma
- Helreið Brynhildar
- Dráp Niflunga
- Guðrúnarkviða II
- Guðrúnarkviða III
- Oddrúnargrátr
- Atlakviða
- Atlamál
- Guðrúnarhvöt
- Hamðismál
External links
- Stafrænt handritasafn (Portal to photographs of the whole codex)
Notes
<references/>de:Codex Regius is:Konungsbók Eddukvæða sv:Codex Regius