The Collaborative International Dictionary
Edda \Ed"da\, n.; pl. Eddas. [Icel., lit. great-grandmother (i. e., of Scandinavian poetry), so called by Bishop Brynj['u]lf Sveinsson, who brought it again to light in 1643.] The religious or mythological book of the old Scandinavian tribes of German origin, containing two collections of Sagas (legends, myths) of the old northern gods and heroes.
Note: There are two Eddas. The older, consisting of 39 poems, was reduced to writing from oral tradition in Iceland between 1050 and 1133. The younger or prose Edda, called also the Edda of Snorri, is the work of several writers, though usually ascribed to Snorri Sturleson, who was born in 1178.
Wikipedia
The Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, Snorri's Edda or, historically, simply as Edda, is an Old Norse work of literature written in Iceland in the early 13th century. The work is often assumed to have been written, or at least compiled, by the Icelandic scholar and historian Snorri Sturluson around the year 1220.
It begins with a euhemerized Prologue, a section on the Norse cosmogony, pantheon and myths. This is followed by three distinct books: Gylfaginning (consisting of around 20,000 words), Skáldskaparmál (around 50,000 words) and Háttatal (around 20,000 words). Seven manuscripts, dating from around 1300 to around 1600, have independent textual value. Sturluson planned the collection as a textbook. It was to enable Icelandic poets and readers to understand the subtleties of alliterative verse, and to grasp the meaning behind the many kenningar (compounds) that were used in skaldic poetry.
The Prose Edda was originally referred to as simply Edda, but was later titled the Prose Edda in modern collections to distinguish it from the collections titled Poetic Edda that are largely based on Codex Regius a collection of poetry composed after Edda in 13th century Iceland. At that time, versions of the Edda were well known in Iceland, but scholars speculated that there once was an Elder Edda which contained the pagan poems which Snorri quotes in his Edda. When Codex Regius was discovered it seemed that this speculation was correct - and so the name came into common usage, despite later study showing Edda was composed first and at most connected by an original common source.
Usage examples of "prose edda".
I paraphrased the complete Poetic Edda, and took notes on the Prose Edda (or Snorri Edda, written by Snorri Sturluson, Iceland's greatest literary figure, in the thirteenth century) and the Volsung Saga (which covers the material in the missing portion of the Poetic Edda).
I paraphrased the complete Poetic Edda, and took notes on the Prose Edda (or Snorri Edda, written by Snorri Sturluson, Iceland’.
I also wish to acknowledge my debt to the unknown compiler of the Poetic Edda and to Snorri Sturlusson, who composed the Prose Edda in the thirteenth century and thus preserved so much of what we have of the ancient lore.
The dwarves of The Prose Edda, typical of traditional dwarves, were miners and expert craftsmen who lived in caves and mountains.
He played himself back on a tape recorder, reading from Beowulf or Chaucer or the Prose Edda, which tells of the Wind Age and Wolf Age when the Sun swallows Earth.