Prologue (Prose Edda)

The Prologue is the first section of four books of the ''Prose Edda'', and consists of a euhemerized account of the origins of Norse mythology: the Norse gods are described descended from the Thracians.

Regarding the euhemerization in the ''Prologue'', Faulkes (1985) commented that "undoubtedly one of the motives for including the prologue, and maybe the chief reason for the use of the frame device itself, was to avoid the criticism that his stories were dangerous to hristianorthodoxy".Faulkes (1985:284-285).

The section's genealogy presented begins with Priam.
Priam's daughter Tróán married king Múnón or Memnon or Menon. Their son was Trór, or Thor, who was fostered in Thrace.
Thor slew his foster father and married Sibil, identified with Sif.
The line of descendants of Thor and Sif is given as follows:
: Lóriði, Einridi, Vingethor, Vingener, Móda, Magi, Seskef, Bedvig, Athra, Ítermann, Heremód, Skjaldun, Bjáf , Ját, Gudólfr, Finn, Fríallaf
Finally, the son of Fríallaf was "Vóden, whom we call Odin", who came to Germany (''Saxland'') and established the royal lines there.
:"Odin had second sight, and his wife also; and from their foreknowledge he found that his name should be exalted in the northern part of the world and glorified above the fame of all other kings. Therefore, he made ready to journey out of Tyrkland ..They made no end to their journeying till they were come north into the land that is now called Saxland"
In Saxland, Odin's sons Vegdeg, Beldeg ( Baldr) and Sigi founded the ruling houses of the Franks, from whom descended the Völsungs.
Odin himself moved on to Joðland, which the section says was known as Reiðgo in earlier times, where he established his son Skjöldr, from whom derive the Skjöldungs, the kings of the Danes.
After this, Odin went on to Sweden, where there was a king named Gylfi. Old Sweden, Sviþjoð, is otherwise attested by Snorre to stretch from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea and modern Sweden, along the river Tanais, Dniepr. King Gylfi welcomed Odin and his train as "men of Asia, who were called Æsir".
In Sweden, Odin founded a city called Sigtúna as a Trojan colony. Later, Odin's son Yngvi became king of Sweden, founding the Yngling dynasty.
Finally, Odin went on to Norway, where he established his son Sæmingr as king.

The ''Prologue'' concludes in a linguistic remark, observing that the Æsir when they came to the north, spread out until their language was the native language over all these lands.

The section's genealogy is obviously informed by Anglo-Saxon tradition, as preserved by Æthelweard, the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' and the Anglian collection. His genealogical descent from Seskef to Odin directly parallels that from Sceaf to Woden in Anglo-Saxon tradition, and explicitly gives Odin's original name as ''Vóden'', explaining that the original names of the Æsir were better preserved in England. The specific form that the names take as well as retained errors in the ancestry of Odin indicate a source closely related to Anglian collection manuscript T. The prologue's Sescef matches this manuscript's ''Se Scef'' - 'this Scef', and he appears to have had used a set of genealogical notes made from the Anglian collection manuscript and brought to Iceland, where they would serve as the basis for his expanded account in the ''Prologue'' as well as specific passages within ''Heimskringla''. These notes omitted the descent from Adam given Scef in the Anglian collection, freeing the prologue author to derive his Sescef from Thor and hence Priam. The names interposed are all associated with Thor: Lóriði, Einridi, Vingethor and Vingener derive from alternative names for Thor, while Móda and Magi are his sons Móði and Magni.Faulkes, Anthony. "The Genealogies and Regnal Lists in a Manuscript in Resen's Library", ''Sjötíu ritgerðir helgaðar Jakobi Benediktssyni 20. júlí 1977'', Reykjavik, 1977, pp. 170—19

/ref>Faulkes, Anthony. "The Earliest Icelandic Genealogies and Regnal Lists, ''The Saga Book of the Viking Society'', vol. 29 (2005), pp. 115-11

the prologue author emulated the Anglo-Saxon pedigrees that converging on Woden, making the Scandinavian pedigrees converge on Odin by turning their eponymous founders, Yngvi of the Ynglings and Skjöldr of the Skjöldungs, into Sons of Odin, Odin's sons. In so doing, he creates a duplicate of Skjaldun, intermediate between Seskef and Odin in the portion of the pedigree derived from the Anglo-Saxon source, and representing the same Scyld.

See also

*''Heimskringla''
* Scefings
*Sons of Odin

Notes

References

* Faulkes, Anthony (1985). "Pagan Sympathy: Attitudes to Heathendom in the Prologue to ''Snorra Edda''" as collected in Glendinning, R. J. Bessason, Heraldur (Editors). ''Edda: a Collection of Essays.'' University of Manitoba Press.

{{Prose Edda

Icelandic literature
Medieval literature
Old Norse literature
Old Norse prose