edda Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun tropical starchy tuberous root
    cocoyam; dasheen; taro; taro root.
  2. noun either of two distinct works in Old Icelandic dating from the late 13th century and consisting of 34 mythological and heroic ballads composed between 800 and 1200; the primary source for Scandinavian mythology

WordNet

Ed"da noun
Etymology
Icel., lit. great-grandmother (i. e., of Scandinavian poetry), so called by Bishop Brynjúlf Sveinsson, who brought it again to light in 1643.
Wordforms
plural Eddas
Definitions
  1. 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. ✍ 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.

Webster 1913