\Ed"da\, n.; pl. {Eddas}. [Icel., lit. great-grandmother
(i. e., of Scandinavian poetry), so called by Bishop
Brynj['u]lf Sveinsson, who brought it again to light in
1643.]
The religious or mythological book of the old Scandinavian
tribes of German origin, containing two collections of Sagas
(legends, myths) of the old northern gods and heroes.
Note: There are two Eddas. The older, consisting of 39 poems,
      was reduced to writing from oral tradition in Iceland
      between 1050 and 1133. The younger or {prose Edda},
      called also the {Edda of Snorri}, is the work of
      several writers, though usually ascribed to Snorri
      Sturleson, who was born in 1178.