The Poetic Edda

The vibrant Old Norse poems in this 13th-century collection known as the "Lays of the Gods" recapture the ancient oral traditions of the Norsemen. Its images of a mythical world influenced storytellers such as Richard Wagner and J. R. R. Tolkien. These mythological poems include the Voluspo, one of the broadest conceptions of the world's creation and ultimate destruction ever crystallized in literary form; the Hovamol, a compilation of sagacious counsels reminiscent of the biblical book of Proverbs; the Lokasenna, a comedy bursting with vivid characterizations; and the Thrymskvitha, a ballad of enduring loveliness.