The Poetic Edda: Essays on Old Norse Mythology

Edited by Paul Acker and Carolyne Larrington, The Poetic Edda: Essays on Old Norse Mythology is a collection of scholarship on the mythological poems of the Poetic Edda, one of the principal sources for Old Norse cosmology and traditions concerning figures such as Odin, Thor and Loki. It is not a translation of the complete Poetic Edda, but a critical companion that examines major poems and the history of their interpretation.

The essays bring a range of approaches to Eddic poetry, including feminist, structuralist and post-structuralist readings, and include work from scholars across several traditions of Old Norse study. Translated scholarship also introduces English-language readers to approaches developed in Scandinavia. The volume is best suited to readers who already know the myths or primary texts and want a deeper scholarly understanding of Eddic poetry, myth and interpretation.