Codex Regius
Encyclopedia
Cōdex Rēgius (GKS 2365 4to) is an Iceland
ic manuscript
(See also Codex
) in which the Poetic Edda
is preserved. It is made up of 45 vellum
leaves, thought to have been written in the 1270s
. It originally contained a further 8 leaves, which are now missing
. It is the sole source for most of the poems it contains.
Nothing is known of its whereabouts until 1643 when it came into the possession of Brynjólfur Sveinsson
, then Bishop of Skálholt
, who sent it as a present to King Frederick III of Denmark
in 1662, hence the name. It was then kept in 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.
One of the principal manuscripts of the Prose Edda
(GKS 2367 4to) also goes by the name of the Codex Regius. It is made up of 55 vellum pages dating from the early 14th century. It was part of the same gift from Bishop Brynjólfur to Frederick III. It was returned to Iceland in 1985, where it is now also in the Árni Magnússon Institute.
Bestselling author J.R.R. Tolkien frequently lectured on the subject of the Codex Regius during his decades long career as an Oxford professor of Linguistics. In 2009, seventy years after its composition, HarperCollins
posthumously published Tolkien's verse retelling of the Codex Regius, which was entitled, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun
.
In a 1967 letter to W. H. Auden
, Tolkien had written,
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
ic manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
(See also Codex
Codex
A codex is a book in the format used for modern books, with multiple quires or gatherings typically bound together and given a cover.Developed by the Romans from wooden writing tablets, its gradual replacement...
) in which the Poetic Edda
Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...
is preserved. It is made up of 45 vellum
Vellum
Vellum is mammal skin prepared for writing or printing on, to produce single pages, scrolls, codices or books. It is generally smooth and durable, although there are great variations depending on preparation, the quality of the skin and the type of animal used...
leaves, thought to have been written in the 1270s
1270s in poetry
-Major works:* The Codex Regius, the manuscript in which the Poetic Edda is preserved, is written....
. It originally contained a further 8 leaves, which are now missing
Great Lacuna
The Great Lacuna is a lacuna of eight leaves where there was heroic Old Norse poetry in the Codex Regius. The gap would have contained the last part of Sigrdrífumál and most of Sigurðarkviða...
. It is the sole source for most of the poems it contains.
Nothing is known of its whereabouts until 1643 when it came into the possession of Brynjólfur Sveinsson
Brynjólfur Sveinsson
Brynjólfur Sveinsson served as the Lutheran Bishop of the see of Skálholt in Iceland. His main influence has been on modern knowledge of Old Norse literature. He is currently pictured on the Icelandic 1000 krónur bill....
, then Bishop of Skálholt
Skálholt
Skálholt is an historical site situated in the south of Iceland at the river Hvítá.-History:Skálholt was, through eight centuries, one of the most important places in Iceland. From 1056 until 1785, it was one of Iceland's two episcopal sees, along with Hólar, making it a cultural and political...
, who sent it as a present to King Frederick III of Denmark
Frederick III of Denmark
Frederick III was king of Denmark and Norway from 1648 until his death. He instituted absolute monarchy in Denmark and Norway in 1660, confirmed by law in 1665 as the first in western historiography. He was born the second-eldest son of Christian IV of Denmark and Anne Catherine of Brandenburg...
in 1662, hence the name. It was then kept in the Royal Library in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
until April 21 1971, when it was brought back to Reykjavík
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
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.
One of the principal manuscripts of the Prose Edda
Prose Edda
The Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, Snorri's Edda or simply Edda, is an Icelandic collection of four sections interspersed with excerpts from earlier skaldic and Eddic poetry containing tales from Nordic mythology...
(GKS 2367 4to) also goes by the name of the Codex Regius. It is made up of 55 vellum pages dating from the early 14th century. It was part of the same gift from Bishop Brynjólfur to Frederick III. It was returned to Iceland in 1985, where it is now also in the Árni Magnússon Institute.
Bestselling author J.R.R. Tolkien frequently lectured on the subject of the Codex Regius during his decades long career as an Oxford professor of Linguistics. In 2009, seventy years after its composition, HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
posthumously published Tolkien's verse retelling of the Codex Regius, which was entitled, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun
The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún
The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún is a narrative poem composed by J. R. R. Tolkien. The book was released worldwide on May 5, 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and HarperCollins....
.
In a 1967 letter to W. H. Auden
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden , who published as W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet,The first definition of "Anglo-American" in the OED is: "Of, belonging to, or involving both England and America." See also the definition "English in origin or birth, American by settlement or citizenship" in See also...
, Tolkien had written,
"Thank you for your wonderful effort in translating and reorganizing The Song of the SibylVöluspáVöluspá is the first and best known poem of the Poetic Edda. It tells the story of the creation of the world and its coming end related by a völva addressing Odin...
. In return, I hope to send you, if I can lay my hands on it (I hope it isn't lost), a thing I did many years ago while trying to learn the art of writing alliterative poetry: an attempt to unify the lays about the Völsungs from the Elder Edda, written in the old eight-line fornyrðislag stanzaStanzaIn poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse"...
."
Contents
| Völuspá Völuspá Völuspá is the first and best known poem of the Poetic Edda. It tells the story of the creation of the world and its coming end related by a völva addressing Odin... |
(Prophecy of the Völva) |
| Hávamál Hávamál Hávamál is presented as a single poem in the Poetic Edda, a collection of Old Norse poems from the Viking age. The poem, itself a combination of different poems, is largely gnomic, presenting advice for living, proper conduct and wisdom.... |
(Sayings of the high one) |
| Vafþrúðnismál Vafþrúðnismál In Norse mythology, Vafþrúðnismál is the third poem in the Poetic Edda. It is a conversation in verse form conducted initially between the Æsir Odin and Frigg, and subsequently between Odin and the giant Vafþrúðnir... |
(Vafþrúðnir's sayings) |
| Grímnismál Grímnismál Grímnismál is one of the mythological poems of the Poetic Edda. It is preserved in the Codex Regius manuscript and the AM 748 I 4to fragment. It is spoken through the voice of Grímnir, one of the many guises of the god Odin, who is tortured by King Geirröth... |
(Sayings of Grímnir) |
| Skírnismál Skírnismál Skírnismál is one of the poems of the Poetic Edda. It is preserved in the 13th century manuscripts Codex Regius and AM 748 I 4to but may have been originally composed in heathen times... |
(Sayings of Skírnir) |
| Hárbarðsljóð Hárbarðsljóð Hárbarðsljóð is one of the poems of the Poetic Edda, found in the Codex Regius and AM 748 I 4to manuscripts. It is a flyting poem with figures from Norse mythology-Synopsis:... |
(Lay of Hárbarðr) |
| Hymiskviða Hymiskviða Hymiskviða is a poem collected in the Poetic Edda. Its contents are somewhat confusing but can be summarized more or less as follows.... |
(Hymir's poem) |
| Lokasenna Lokasenna Lokasenna is one of the poems of the Poetic Edda. The poem presents flyting between the gods and Loki.... |
(Loki's quarrel) |
| Þrymskviða Þrymskviða Þrymskviða is one of the best known poems from the Poetic Edda... |
(Thrym's poem) |
| Völundarkviða Völundarkviða Völundarkviða is one of the mythological poems of the Poetic Edda... |
(Völundr's poem) |
| Alvíssmál Alvíssmál Alvíssmál is poem collected in the Poetic Edda, probably dating to the 11th century, that relates a conversation between Thor and a Dvergr called Alvíss .-Plot:... |
(Talk of Alvíss) |
| Helgakviða Hundingsbana I Helgakviða Hundingsbana I Völsungakviða, Helgakviða Hundingsbana I or the First Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane is an Old Norse poem found in the Poetic Edda... |
(First Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane) |
| Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar is a poem collected in the Poetic Edda, found in the Codex Regius manuscript where it follows Helgakviða Hundingsbana I and precedes Helgakviða Hundingsbana II... |
(Lay of Helgi Hjörvarðsson) |
| Helgakviða Hundingsbana II Helgakviða Hundingsbana II Völsungakviða in forna, Helgakviða Hundingsbana II or the Second Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane is an Old Norse poem found in the Poetic Edda... |
(Second Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane) |
| Frá dauða Sinfjötla Frá dauða Sinfjötla Frá dauða Sinfjötla is a short prose piece found in the Codex Regius manuscript of the Poetic Edda. It describes the death of Sinfjötli, son of Sigmundr, connecting Helgakviða Hundingsbana II and Grípisspá.... |
(On the death of Sinfjötli) |
| Grípisspá Grípisspá Grípisspá or Sigurðarkviða Fáfnisbana I is an Eddic poem, found in the Codex Regius manuscript where it follows Frá dauða Sinfjötla and precedes Reginsmál.... |
(Grípir's prophecy) |
| Reginsmál Reginsmál Reginsmál or Sigurðarkviða Fáfnisbana II is an Eddic poem, found in the Codex Regius manuscript... |
(Reginn's sayings) |
| Fáfnismál Fáfnismál Fáfnismál is an Eddic poem, found in the Codex Regius manuscript. The poem is unnamed in the manuscript, where it follows Reginsmál and precedes Sigrdrífumál, but modern scholars regard it as a separate poem and have assigned it a name for convenience.The poem forms a more coherent whole than... |
(Fáfnir's sayings) |
| Sigrdrífumál Sigrdrífumál Sigrdrífumál is the conventional title given to a section of the Poetic Edda text in Codex Regius.... |
(Sigrdrífa sayings) |
| The Great Lacuna Great Lacuna The Great Lacuna is a lacuna of eight leaves where there was heroic Old Norse poetry in the Codex Regius. The gap would have contained the last part of Sigrdrífumál and most of Sigurðarkviða... |
|
| Brot af Sigurðarkviðu Brot af Sigurðarkviðu Brot af Sigurðarkviðu is the remaining 22 stanzas of a heroic Old Norse poem in the Poetic Edda. In the Codex Regius, there is a gap of eight leaves where the first part of the poem would have been found, and also the last part of the Sigrdrífumál. Luckily, the missing narrative is preserved in the... |
|
| Guðrúnarkviða I Guðrúnarkviða I Guðrúnarkviða I or the First Lay of Guðrún is simply called Guðrúnarkviða in Codex Regius where it was found together with the other heroic poems of the Poetic Edda. Henry Adams Bellows considered it to be one of the finest of the eddic poems with an "extraordinary emotional intensity and dramatic... |
(First Lay of Guðrún) |
| Sigurðarkviða hin skamma Sigurðarkviða hin skamma Sigurðarkviða hin skamma or the Short Lay of Sigurd is an Old Norse poem belonging to the heroic poetry of the Poetic Edda. It is one of the longest eddic poems and its name derives from the fact that there was once a longer Sigurðarkviða, but this poem only survives as the fragment Brot af... |
(the Short Lay of Sigurd) |
| Helreið Brynhildar Helreið Brynhildar Helreið Brynhildar or Brynhild's Hel-Ride is a short Old Norse poem that is found in the Poetic Edda. Most of the poem is also quoted in Norna-Gests þáttr.... |
(Brynhild's Hel-Ride) |
| Dráp Niflunga Dráp Niflunga The Dráp Niflunga is a short prose section in the Poetic Edda between Helreið Brynhildar and Guðrúnarkviða II. Henry Adams Bellows notes in his commentary that the purpose of the section is to serve as a narrative link between the poems.... |
|
| Guðrúnarkviða II Guðrúnarkviða II Guðrúnarkviða II, The Second Lay of Gudrún, or Guðrúnarkviða hin forna, The Old Lay of Gudrún is probably the oldest poem of the Sigurd cycle, according to Henry Adams Bellows.... |
(The Second Lay of Gudrún) |
| Guðrúnarkviða III Guðrúnarkviða III Guðrúnarkviða III, The Third Lay of Gudrun, is a short Old Norse poem that is part of the Poetic Edda. It has not left any traces in Völsunga saga and was probably not known by its compilers.... |
(The Third Lay of Gudrún) |
| Oddrúnargrátr Oddrúnargrátr Oddrúnargrátr or Oddrúnarkviða is an Eddic poem, found in the Codex Regius manuscript where it follows Guðrúnarkviða III and precedes Atlakviða.... |
(Oddrún's lament) |
| Atlakviða Atlakviða Atlakviða is one of the heroic poems of the Poetic Edda. One of the main characters is Atli who originates from Attila the Hun. It is one of the most archaic Eddic poems. It is preserved in the Codex Regius and the same story is related in the Völsunga saga... |
(The Lay of Atli) |
| Atlamál Atlamál Atlamál in grœnlenzku is one of the heroic poems of the Poetic Edda. It relates the same basic story as Atlakviða at greater length and in a different style... |
(The Greenlandic Lay of Atli) |
| Guðrúnarhvöt Guðrúnarhvöt Guðrúnarhvöt is one of the heroic poems of the Poetic Edda. Gudrun had been married to the hero Sigurd and with him she had the daughter Svanhild. Svanhild had married the Gothic king Ermanaric , but betrayed him with the king's son, Randver... |
|
| Hamðismál Hamðismál The Hamðismál is a poem which ends the heroic poetry of the Poetic Edda, and thereby the whole collection.Gudrun had been the wife of the hero Sigurd, whom her brothers had killed. With Sigurd she had had the daughter Svanhild, who had married to the Goth king Ermanaric... |