the name given to two ancient Scandinavian works, known respectively as the Elder, or Poetical Edda, and the Younger, or Prose Edda. The first of these was compiled probably sometimes between the tenth and the thirteenth centuries, and consists of a collection of thirtythree songs which treat of the Scandinavian gods and heroes. The Younger Edda presents a kind of synopsis of the Northern mythology, with a treatise on the poetry and versification of the skalds, or ancient poets. It is supposed to have been written in the thirteenth century, but was first published in the seventeenth.