There were also the Suehans ( Swedes ( Germanic tribe )) who had splendid horses like the Thuringians ( interestingly Snorri Sturluson wrote that the 6th century Swedish king Adils had the best horses of his time ).

There is speculation about the birthdate of Snorri Thorfinnsson.

There are good reasons to assume that the author was Óláfr Þórðarson ( d. 1259 ), nicknamed hvítaskáld " the White Poet ", who was a nephew of Snorri Sturluson.

Snorri further writes that Asgard is a land more fertile than any other, blessed also with a great abundance of gold and jewels.

In the initial stanzas of the poem Asagarth is the capital of Asaland, a section of Asia to the east of the Tana-kvísl or Vana-Kvísl river ( kvísl is " fork "), which Snorri explains is the Tanais, or Don River, flowing into the Black Sea.

It is unclear what people Snorri thinks the Vanes are, whether the proto-Slavic Venedi or the east Germanic Vandals, who had been in that region at that time for well over 1000 years.

Troy cannot have been Asagarth, Snorri realizes, the reason being that the Æsir in Asaland were unsettled by the military activities of the Romans ; that is, of the Byzantine Empire.

Snorri says at first it is Valhalla and then adds: " The Swedes now believed that he had gone to the old Asagarth and would live there forever " ( Section 9 ).

Both Fundinn Noregr and Snorri Sturluson in Skáldskaparmál state that Ægir is the same as the sea-giant Hlér, who lives on the isle of Hlésey, and this is borne out by kennings.

The bridge is attested as Bilröst in the Poetic Edda ; compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and as Bifröst in the Prose Edda ; written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, and in the poetry of skalds.

According to Gylfaginning, a book of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, Baldr's wife is Nanna and their son is Forseti.

In Gylfaginning, Snorri relates that Baldr had the greatest ship ever built, named Hringhorni, and that there is no place more beautiful than his hall, Breidablik.

It is briefly described in Snorri Sturluson's Gylfaginning as one of the halls of Asgard:

Snorri Sturluson quoted this old poem in Skáldskaparmál, saying that because of this legend Heimdall is called " Seeker of Freyja's Necklace " ( Skáldskaparmál, section 8 ) and Loki is called " Thief of Brísingamen " ( Skáldskaparmál, section 16 ).

The first part of Snorri Sturluson's Skáldskaparmál is a dialogue between Ægir and Bragi about the nature of poetry, particularly skaldic poetry.

" A third, proposed in 1895 by Eiríkr Magnússon, but since discredited, is that it derives from the Icelandic place name Oddi, site of the church and school where students, including Snorri Sturluson, were educated.

The derivation of the word " Edda " as the name of Snorri Sturluson ’ s treatise on poetry from the Latin " edo ", " I compose ( poetry )" by analogy with " kredda ", " superstition " from Latin " credo ", " creed " is now widely accepted.

Fenrir is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda and Heimskringla, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson.

In reference to Fenrir's presentation in the Prose Edda, Andy Orchard theorizes that " the hound ( or wolf )" Garmr, Sköll, and Hati Hróðvitnisson were originally simply all Fenrir, stating that " Snorri, characteristically, is careful to make distinctions, naming the wolves who devour the sun and moon as Sköll and Hati Hróðvitnisson respectively, and describing an encounter between Garm and Týr ( who, one would have thought, might like to get his hand on Fenrir ) at Ragnarök.

Freyja is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources ; in the Prose Edda and Heimskringla, both written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century ; in several Sagas of Icelanders ; in the short story Sörla þáttr ; in the poetry of skalds ; and into the modern age in Scandinavian folklore, as well as the name for Friday in many Germanic languages.

The problem is that in Old Norse mær means both " daughter " and " wife ," so it is not fully clear if Fjörgynn is Frigg's father or another name for her husband Odin, but Snorri Sturluson interprets the line as meaning Frigg is Fjörgynn's daughter ( Skáldskaparmál 27 ), and most modern translators of the Poetic Edda follow Snorri.

At that time, versions of the Prose Edda were well known in Iceland, but scholars speculated that there once was another Edda — an Elder Edda — which contained the pagan poems Snorri quotes in his book.

" Snorri further writes that there Hel is located in Niflheim.

At that time versions of the Prose Edda were well known in Iceland but scholars speculated that there once was another Edda — an Elder Edda — which contained the pagan poems which Snorri quotes in his Prose Edda.

Finally there is a short piece of prose summarizing the tale of Loki's binding, which is told in fuller form in the Gylfaginning section of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda.

However, Sigmund Feist ( 1909 ) rejects the theory on etymological grounds, as does Albert Morley Sturtevant ( 1951 ) on the grounds of major difficulties, and their points have led Bruce Lincoln ( 1977 ) to comment that " there is no reason whatever to contend that nagl-does not have its usual meaning of " nail " and that Naglfar is anything other than the nail-ship, just as Snorri describes it.

In his Ynglinga saga, Snorri Sturluson relates that Anund succeeded his father Ingvar on the Swedish throne, and after his father's wars against Danish Vikings and Estonian pirates, peace reigned over Sweden and there were good harvests.

According to Snorri Sturluson in the Heimskringla it was the location of Uppsala and the Thing of all Swedes, where every year there were great blóts which were attended by many kings.

Then Arnkel leapt up on to the hayrick, and defended himself thence for a space, but such was the end of matter that he fell, and they covered him over there in the garth with hay ; and thereafter Snorri and his folk fared home to Holyfell "

This is based on the mistaken idea that there is no evidence of Vikings giving birth at their settlement at L ' Anse aux Meadows ( see Snorri Thorfinnsson ).

Snorri quotes his own source saying: " The sun will go black, earth sink in the sea, heaven be stripped of its bright stars ;...." ( Section 56 ).

According to the Ragnarök prophecies in Snorri Sturluson's Gylfaginning, the first part of his Prose Edda, the sons of Muspell will break the Bifröst bridge, signaling the end of times:

According to Snorri Sturluson's interpretation of the Völuspá, the three most important norns, Urðr ( Wyrd ), Verðandi and Skuld come out from a hall standing at the Well of Urðr ( well of fate ) and they draw water from the well and take sand that lies around it, which they pour over Yggdrasill so that its branches will not rot.

Eyrbyggja Saga details the transition of paganism to Christianity within Icelandic settlement under the direction of Snorri Goði, or “ Snorri the Priest .” The emphasis on justice and the conviction in their system of governance is reflected within the saga: “ They say we ’ ll suffer setbacks in court ; we must plead for support from powerful chieftains: but Arnkel will argue an eloquent case, he ’ ll sway judge and jury-I have faith in justice .” However, court decisions were often displaced by personal and violent acts of vengeance as a matter of duty and honor.

The sons of Bor then constructed Asgard ( to be identified with Troy, Snorri insists in section 9 ) as a home for the Æsir, who were divinities.

By the time of the Ynglinga Saga, Snorri had developed his concept of Asgard further, although the differences might be accounted for by his sources.

It can be argued that Snorri used this narrative device as a means of being able to safely document a vanishing and largely oral tradition within a Christian context.

Snorri ’ s own usage, however, seems to fit the looser sense: “ Snorri uses the term " kenning " to refer to a structural device, whereby a person or object is indicated by a periphrastic description containing two or more terms ( which can be a noun with one or more dependent genitives or a compound noun or a combination of these two structures )” ( Faulkes ( 1998 a ), p. xxxiv ).

Snorri ’ s expression kend heiti " qualified terms " appears to be synonymous with kenningar, although Brodeur applies this more specifically to those periphrastic epithets which don ’ t come under his strict definition of kenning.

Moreover, artistic license permitted such terms to be used for mortal women in Old Norse poetry, or to quote Snorri Sturluson's Skáldskaparmál on the various names used for women:

Snorri quotes older sources on the subject, and could be preserving valuable details.

Rudolf Simek says that the etymology that Snorri presents in Gylfaginning for the name Gná may not be correct, yet it is unclear what the name may otherwise mean, though Gná has also been etymologically theorized as a " goddess of fullness.

Simek states that Hlín is likely simply another name for Frigg, and that Snorri " misunderstood her to be a goddess in her own right in his reading of the Völuspá stanza.

Orchard theorizes that, otherwise, Snorri may have had access to a lost source, and that the little information Snorri presents may be derived from the meaning of her name.

As such it might be identical to the Svartálfheim mentioned in the Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson ; as svartálfar ( black-elves ) are generally thought by scholars to be a synonym used only by Snorri for dvergar ( dwarves ).

Although he has his own saga in Heimskringla, it lacks any skaldic verse, which is normally used by Snorri as supporting evidence and this, combined with its rather legendary character, leads historians to be wary of seeing much veracity in it.

In the pseudo-historical genealogy of Odin's ancestors in the introduction to Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, a certain Athra is said to be he " whom we call Annar ".

It can already be found in the form Eikundarsund in the Norse saga of Olav the Holy, written by Icelandic author Snorri Sturlasson in the 13th century.

But rather oddly Snorri immediately follows this with information on what should be four other personages who were not sons of Halfdan but who also fathered dynasties and names the first of these as " Yngvi, from whom the Ynglings are descended ".

Other parts of the extensive work of Snorri Sturluson ( and other saga writers ) may however be considered valid references for finding elements of the ancient history of Scandinavian people and their religious customs and beliefs.

Snorri then immediately mentions what seem to be intended as four famous houses not descended from Halfdan the Old:

While in Vínland, the couple had a son who they named Snorri Thorfinnsson, who is the first European reported to be born in the Western Hemisphere.