Gylfaginning

Icelandic literature

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June 29, 2026

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Gylfaginning is a section within the Prose Edda, a significant work of Icelandic literature compiled by Snorri Sturluson around 1222-1223. This text serves as a textbook on poetics and mythology for a Christian audience, explaining the mythological subjects found in older Norse poetry.1

The Gylfaginning section is presented as a dialogue where a Swedish king, Gylfi, visits Asgard, the home of the gods. The gods recount Norse myths to Gylfi, covering the creation of the world, their own adventures, and the prophesied end of the world, Ragnarök. This narrative provides a detailed account of Norse mythology, drawing from earlier Eddic and skaldic poetry, some of which is now lost. The Prose Edda, along with the Poetic Edda, forms the most comprehensive source of knowledge about Germanic mythology available today.123

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Germanic religion and mythology
Scandinavian literary sources
…of the north in the “Gylfaginning” (“Beguiling of Gylfi”), a section describing all of the major gods and their functions. Snorri worked partly from Eddic and skaldic poetry still extant, but partly from sources that are now lost. He presents a clear, if not altogether reliable, account of the gods,…
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…of the north in the “Gylfaginning” (“Beguiling of Gylfi”), a section describing all of the major gods and their functions. Snorri worked partly from Eddic and skaldic poetry still extant, but partly from sources that are now lost. He presents a clear, if not altogether reliable, account of the gods,…
Read More

Edda
The Prose Edda.
The remaining section, Gylfaginning (“The Beguiling of Gylfi”), is of interest to the general reader. Cast in the form of a dialogue, it describes the visit of Gylfi, a king of the Swedes, to Asgard, the citadel of the gods. In answer to his questions, the gods tell…
Read More
The remaining section, Gylfaginning (“The Beguiling of Gylfi”), is of interest to the general reader. Cast in the form of a dialogue, it describes the visit of Gylfi, a king of the Swedes, to Asgard, the citadel of the gods. In answer to his questions, the gods tell…
Read More