Sources

The Poetic Edda

Citation Formats

General Reference

Divinity Atlas. "The Poetic Edda." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://www.divinityatlas.com/sources/the-poetic-edda.

APA Style

Divinity Atlas. (n.d.). The Poetic Edda. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://www.divinityatlas.com/sources/the-poetic-edda

BibTeX

@misc{divinityatlas-the-poetic-edda,
  author = {Divinity Atlas},
  title = {The Poetic Edda},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://www.divinityatlas.com/sources/the-poetic-edda},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

The Poetic Edda survives through a single medieval manuscript, the Codex Regius, and this 1923 English edition is a primary-text translation of that source rather than a modern scholar's argument about Norse religion. Its authority is the manuscript itself: what the Havamal's Runatal passage says about Odin's ordeal to win the runes can be checked directly against this translation and the manuscript tradition behind it, rather than taken on the American-Scandinavian Foundation's word. Its real limit is the one all Eddic poetry shares: the manuscript is Christian-era, copied centuries after the practices it is usually taken to reflect, so a claim about how far the poems preserve genuine pre-Christian belief rather than later literary reworking needs a source addressing that specific gap. Use it for what the Poetic Edda itself says at a given verse; not for independent confirmation that the practices it describes were followed as stated.

Facts

Citation

Author

Anonymous (Codex Regius)

Publisher

The American-Scandinavian Foundation

Publication Year

1923

URL

https://archive.org/details/poeticedda00belluoft

Source Type

primary-text

Assessment

Reliability Tier

A primary-text translation of the Poetic Edda from its sole surviving medieval manuscript, the Codex Regius, authoritative for what the Havamal's Runatal passage itself says, not for how far the Christian-era manuscript preserves genuine pre-Christian belief.

Notes

Old Norse eddic poems; the Havamal contains the Runatal on the runes.

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Norse

This source names Norse directly: "than a modern scholar's argument about Norse religion."

Source The Poetic EddaAnonymous (Codex Regius)

Questions Resolved By This

How old are the eddic poems, as distinct from the Codex Regius that preserves them?

Gives the poems' composition window, roughly 800 to 1270 CE, matching the date range already recorded for The Poetic Edda.

Source The Poetic EddaAnonymous (Codex Regius)

Claims Backed By This Source (287 claims)

This source backs 287 claims across the atlas. As facts: 193 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate. As cited relationships: 34 holds, 4 connected. Plus 55 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.

Disposition By Topic

Passages, 55 claims: 42 well-attested, 7 holds, 6 general references.
Articles, 37 claims: 27 well-attested, 4 connected, 6 general references.
Realms, 37 claims: 26 well-attested, 5 holds, 6 general references.
Figures, 31 claims: 22 well-attested, 3 holds, 6 general references.
Deities, 27 claims: 15 well-attested, 1 holds, 11 general references.
Scripture Portions, 23 claims: 13 well-attested, 6 holds, 4 general references.
Mythical Creatures, 16 claims: 10 well-attested, 2 holds, 4 general references.
Myths & Sacred Narratives, 13 claims: 8 well-attested, 3 holds, 2 general references.
Prophecies, 12 claims: 9 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate, 1 holds, 1 general references.
Other Writings, 9 claims: 8 well-attested, 1 general references.
Sources, 9 claims: 8 well-attested, 1 holds.
Open Questions, 5 claims: 3 well-attested, 1 holds, 1 general references.
Hymns & Liturgical Texts, 4 claims: 2 holds, 2 general references.
Prayers, 4 claims: 1 well-attested, 2 holds, 1 general references.
Beliefs & Restrictions, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
Disciplines, 1 claims: 1 general references.
Language Families, 1 claims: 1 general references.
Rituals, 1 claims: 1 general references.