''Skáldskaparmál'' (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

: 'The Language of Poetry'; c. 50,000 words; ; ) is the second part of the '' Prose Edda''. The section consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and

Bragi Bragi (; Old Norse: ) is the skaldic god of poetry in Norse mythology. Etymology The theonym Bragi probably stems from the masculine noun ''bragr'', which can be translated in Old Norse as 'poetry' (cf. Icelandic ''bragur'' 'poem, melody, w ...

, the god of poetry, in which both

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern peri ...

and discourse on the nature of poetry are intertwined. The origin of a number of ''

kenning A kenning ( Icelandic: ) is a figure of speech in the type of circumlocution, a compound that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun. Kennings are strongly associated with Old Norse-Icelandic and Old English ...

s'' is given; then

delivers a systematic list of ''kennings'' for various people, places and things. He then goes on to discuss poetic language in some detail, in particular ''

heiti A heiti (Old Norse ''heiti'' , Modern Icelandic , pl. ''heiti'' "name, appellation, designation, term") is a synonym used in Old Norse poetry in place of the normal word for something. For instance, Old Norse poets might use ''jór'' "steed" in ...

'', the concept of poetical words which are non-periphrastic (like ''steed'' for ''horse''), and again systematises these. This in a way forms an early form of poetic

thesaurus A thesaurus (plural ''thesauri'' or ''thesauruses'') or synonym dictionary is a reference work for finding synonyms and sometimes antonyms of words. They are often used by writers to help find the best word to express an idea: Synonym diction ...

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;Editions *Sveinbjörn Egilsson (ed.) ''Edda Snorra Sturlusonar:: eða Gylfaginníng, Skáldskaparmál og Háttatal'' (1848)
45
ndash;143. * Guðni Jónsson (ed.), ''Eddukvaeði'',Íslendingasagnaútgáfan (1954)
heimskringla.no
*Anthony Faulkes (ed.), ''Edda; Skáldskaparmál'', 2 volumes: vol. 1:
Introduction, Text and Notes
', vol. 2:
Glossary and Index of Names
', London (1998; 2007). ;Translations *

Rasmus Björn Anderson Rasmus Bjørn Anderson (January 12, 1846 – March 2, 1936) was an American author, professor, editor, businessman and diplomat. He brought to popular attention the fact that Viking explorers were the first Europeans to arrive in the New World a ...

(trans.) (1872) *

Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur (September 18, 1888 – September 9, 1971) was a scholar of early English, German, and Old Norse literature at the University of California, Berkeley. He is known primarily for his scholarly work on ''Beowulf'' and his ...

(trans.) (1916) {{DEFAULTSORT:Skaldskaparmal Sources of Norse mythology Old Norse prose Skaldic poetry Nibelung tradition Works by Snorri Sturluson

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