text: "Edda" (; Old Norse Edda, plural Eddur) is an Old Norse term that has been applied by modern scholars to the collective of two Medieval Icelandic literary works: what is now known as the Prose Edda and an older collection of poems (without an original title) now known as the Poetic Edda. The term historically referred only to the Prose Edda, but this usage has fallen out of favour because of confusion with the other work. Both works were recorded in  Iceland during the 13th century in  Icelandic, although they contain material from earlier traditional sources, reaching back into the Viking Age. The books provide the main sources for medieval skaldic tradition in Iceland and for Norse mythology.
  The Edda has been criticized for imposing Snorri Sturluson’s own Christian views on Norse mythology. In particular the clean-cut explanation of what happens to a soul after death as understood in the Edda contradicts other sources on death in Norse mythology.
  Etymology
  At least five hypotheses have been suggested for the origins of the word edda:
  One hypothesis holds that it is identical to a word that means "great-grandmother" appearing in the Eddic poem Rígsþula. The word could stem from the Sanskrit term  ("knowledge").
  Another hypothesis holds that edda derives from Old Norse óðr, "poetry".
  A third, proposed in 1895 by Eiríkr Magnússon, is that it derives from the Icelandic place name Oddi, site of the church and school where students, including Snorri Sturluson, were educated.