prose edda

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.
   [1913 Webster]

   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. Eddaic