The Additional Eddic Poems (NOT codex regius)
When people talk about the Poetic Edda, they usually mean the famous Codex Regius, a 13th-century Icelandic manuscript that preserves 30 mythological and heroic poems. Without it, our knowledge of Old Norse myth would be a shattered mosaic. But the Codex Regius is not the whole story.
Scattered across other medieval manuscripts are a handful of additional poems composed in the same style, often on mythological themes. Modern editors usually collect these together under headings like “Additional Eddic Poems” or “The Eddic Appendix.” They give us a richer, more varied picture of how the Norse told their stories and understood the cosmos.
Eddic poetry is defined less by manuscript location and more by style. These poems are composed in alliterative verse, using metres such as fornyrðislag or ljóðaháttr. They are anonymous in authorship, focus on mythological or heroic subject matter, and favour stark, direct language in contrast to the ornamented skaldic style. Even if a poem is not in the Codex Regius, if it shares these traits, it is considered part of the Eddic tradition.
One of the best known of the additional poems is Baldrs draumar, or Baldr’s Dreams. Preserved in the manuscript AM 748 I 4to, this short and haunting piece tells of Odin’s journey to the underworld, where he questions a dead seeress about his son Baldr’s fate. She reveals that Baldr is doomed to die, a prophecy that drives the tragic cycle of Ragnarök. This poem influenced Snorri Sturluson’s later account of Baldr’s death in the Prose Edda.
Another is Rígsþula, or the Lay of Ríg, which survives in the Codex Wormianus. In this unusual poem the god Heimdall, disguised as Ríg, travels through the human world. He fathers the ancestors of the three social classes: thralls (slaves), karls (farmers), and jarls (nobility). It is unique in the Eddic corpus for its focus on human society rather than gods or heroes, and it provides a mythological explanation for the Norse social hierarchy.
Hyndluljóð, or the Lay of Hyndla, is found in the Flateyjarbók. The goddess Freyja rides with her protégé Óttarr to consult the giantess Hyndla, who recites long genealogies linking Óttarr’s ancestry to gods and heroes. The poem is a mixture of myth, genealogy, and Christian-influenced interpolation, showing how Norse myth and local family history could intertwine.
Svipdagsmál, the Lay of Svipdagr, is actually two poems, Grógaldr and Fjölsvinnsmál, preserved in AM 748 I 4to. In Grógaldr, the hero Svipdagr raises his dead mother to seek her magical help for a dangerous quest. In Fjölsvinnsmál, he confronts a wise watchman and must answer riddles before he can be united with his destined bride Menglöð. This poem is rich in riddling dialogue and magical lore, and some scholars believe Menglöð may be connected with the goddess Freyja.
The reason these poems sit outside the Codex Regius is simple: the Codex was one collector’s anthology of Eddic verse, written around 1270. It was not exhaustive. Other scribes preserved stray Eddic poems in different contexts. Baldrs draumar and Svipdagsmál appear in AM 748 I 4to, Rígsþula is copied into Codex Wormianus, and Hyndluljóð survives in the vast compilation of Flateyjarbók. This dispersal reminds us that Eddic poetry was not a closed book but a living oral tradition, circulating widely before being written down.
Together with the Codex Regius, these additional Eddic poems form the full corpus of what modern readers call the Poetic Edda. They deepen our understanding of myth by expanding on Baldr’s fate, Heimdall’s role, and Freyja’s mysteries. They show the blending of pagan myth, heroic legend, and even Christian influence. They also preserve voices that might otherwise have been lost.
Writers from the Romantics to Tolkien have drawn on these texts. Baldrs draumar in particular inspired retellings of Baldr’s death, while Rígsþula continues to resonate in discussions of myth and society. Hyndluljóð and Svipdagsmál reveal how genealogy, riddling, and prophecy shaped the Norse imagination.
The Poetic Edda is not confined to the Codex Regius. Its additional poems, scattered across medieval manuscripts, are just as essential to the Norse mythological tapestry. They remind us that myth is fluid, transmitted not by a single author but by a community over centuries. By reading Baldrs draumar, Rígsþula, Hyndluljóð, and Svipdagsmál, we step into the wider world of the Norse imagination, one that shaped not only medieval Iceland but the modern fascination with gods, giants, and heroes.
Hail the old poems!
Hail the old ways!
Wyrd & Flame