For studies of both Eddas, see Einarsson, A History of Icelandic Literature (1957), P. Hallberg, The Icelandic Saga (1962); C. J. Clover and J. Lindow, ed., Old Norse-Icelandic Literature: A Critical Guide (1978).
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Reykholt, farm, SW Iceland, famous since the Middle Ages as the home of the historian Snorri Sturluson, author of the Prose Edda (see Edda).
Germanic religion, pre-Christian religious practices among the tribes of Western Europe, Germany, and Scandinavia. The main sources for our knowledge are the Germania of Tacitus and the Elder ...
Magnusson, Finnur, 1781–1847, Icelandic archaeologist and scholar. Educated at the Univ. of Copenhagen, he was appointed (1815) professor of Northern literature and mythology there. He compile...
Snorri Sturluson or Sturleson, 1178–1241, Icelandic chieftain, historian, critic, and saga teller, the leading figure in medieval Norse literature. He was the author of the invaluable Prose Ed...
Bugge, Sophus, 1833–1907, Norwegian philologist. He made a notable edition of the Old Norse runes, and his was the first critical edition (1881–89; 2d series 1896) of the poems of the Eddas.
Wayland Smith, in English folklore, a skillful blacksmith and great armor maker, whose forge was near the White Horse (Oxfordshire). He appears in the Old English Beowulf and Deor and in Sir W...
Ciano, Galeazzo, 1903–44, Italian foreign minister and Fascist leader; son of Admiral Costanzo Ciano, conte di Cortellazzo. He entered on a diplomatic career, married (1930) Mussolini's daught...
Munch, Andreas Peder, 1810–63, Norwegian historian and philologist. A principal figure in the Norwegian literary revival, he contributed an authoritative history of the Norwegian people, Det n...
Norse, another name for the North Germanic, or Scandinavian, group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). The modern Norse languages—Danis...
Old Norse literature, the literature of the Northmen, or Norsemen, c.850–c.1350. It survives mainly in Icelandic writings, for little medieval vernacular literature remains from Norway, Sweden...
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