Snorri Sturluson > Quotes

“And now, if you have anything more to ask, I can't think how you can manage it, for I've never heard anyone tell more of the story of the world. Make what use of it you can.”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology

“A sword age, a wind age, a wolf age. No longer is there mercy among men.”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology

“They all laughed, except Tyr; he lost his hand.”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology

“To Odin many a soul was driven, to Odin many a rich gift given.”
― Snorri Sturluson

“But Loki's relations with Svadilfari were such that a while later he gave birth to a colt.”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology

“Who has ever wandered through such forests, in a length of many miles, in a boundless expanse, without a path, without a goal, amid their monstrous shadows, their sacred gloom, without being filled with deep reverence for the sublime greatness of Nature above all human agency, without feeling the grandeur of the idea which forms the basis of Vidar’s essence?”
― Snorri Sturleson, The Viking Anthology: Norse Myths, Icelandic Sagas and Viking Chronicles

“The story is that Odin travelled from home and came to a place where nine slaves were cutting hay. He asked if they wanted him to sharpen their scythes. They agreed. Then he took a whetstone from his belt and sharpened the scythes. To them it seemed that the scythes now cut much better, and they wanted to buy the whetstone. Odin set this price on the stone: he asked that whoever wanted to buy it should give what he thought was reasonable. They all said they wanted it and each asked to buy it, but instead he threw it into the air. They all scrambled to catch it with the result that they slit each other’s throats with their scythes.”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology

“The old witch bears many giants for sons, and all in the shape of wolves; and from this source are those wolves sprung. The saying runs thus: from this race shall come one that shall be mightiest of all; he that is named Moon-Hound; he shall be filled with the flesh of all those men that die, and he shall swallow the moon, and sprinkle with blood the heavens and all the air; thereof shall the sun lose her shining, and the winds in that day shall be unquiet and roar on every side.”
― Snorri Sturluson

“The Midgard Serpent opened its mouth and swallowed the ox head. The hook dug into the gums of its mouth, and when the serpent felt this, he snapped back so hard that both of Thor’s fists slammed against the gunwale. Thor now became angry and, taking on his divine strength, he strained so hard that both his feet pushed through the bottom of the boat. Using the sea floor to brace himself, he began pulling the serpent up on board. It can be said that no one has seen a more terrifying sight than this: Thor, narrowing his eyes at the serpent, while the serpent spits out poison and stares straight back from below. It is told that the giant Hymir changed colour. He grew pale and feared for his life when he saw the serpent and also the sea rushing in and out of the boat.”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology

“The past is the mirror that reflects the future.”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Younger Edda: Also called Snorre's Edda, or The Prose Edda

“Loki was now captured, and with no thought of mercy he was taken to a cave. They [the Æsir] took three flat stones and, setting them on their edges, broke a hole through each of them. Then they caught Loki’s sons, Vali and Nari or Narfi. The Æsir changed Vali into a wolf, and he ripped apart his brother Narfi. Next the Æsir took his guts, and with them they bound Loki on to the top of the three stones – one under his shoulders, a second under his loins and the third under his knees. The fetters became iron. ‘Then Skadi took a poisonous snake and fastened it above Loki so that its poison drips on to his face. But Sigyn, his wife, placed herself beside him from where she holds a bowl to catch the drops of venom. When the bowl becomes full, she leaves to pour out the poison, and at that moment the poison drips on to Loki’s face. He convulses so violently that the whole earth shakes – it is what is known as an earthquake. He will lie bound there until Ragnarok.”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology

“Obłęd i szał, rozczarowanie i żal,
Siądź tu, a opowiem tobie
o męce tęsknoty
I zdwojonym bólu.”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes

“Wiem, gdzie jesion stoi, Yggdrasill się zowie,
Lśniącą wilgotnością pień jego zroszony;
Z niego idzie rosa, co w dolinach spada,
Koło Urs studni wciąż zielony stoi.”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes

“When the builder saw that the work would not be finished, he flew into a giant’s rage. Once the Æsir realized for certain that they were facing a mountain giant, they no longer respected their oaths. They called upon Thor, who came immediately, and the next thing to happen was that the hammer Mjollnir was in the air. In this way Thor paid the builder his wages, but not the sun and the moon. Rather, Thor put an end to the giant’s life in Jotunheim. He struck the first blow in such a way that the giant’s skull broke into small pieces, and so Thor sent him down to Niflhel.”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology

“Men will know misery,
adulteries be multiplied,
an axe-age, a sword-age,
shields will be cloven,
a wind-age, a wolf-age,
before the world's ruin.”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology

“When the Æsir saw Odin flying, they placed their vats in the courtyard, and when Odin entered Asgard he spat the mead into the vats. It was such a close call, with Suttung almost catching him, that he blew some of the mead out of his rear. No one paid attention to this part, and whoever wanted it took it; we call this the bad poets’ portion.”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology

“The Æsir then took the dead body and bore it to the seashore, where stood Baldur’s ship Hringhorn, which passed for the largest in the world. But when they wanted to launch it in order to make Baldur’s funeral pile on it, they were unable to make it stir. In this conjuncture they sent to Jotunheim for a certain giantess named Hyrrokin, who came mounted on a wolf, having twisted serpents for a bridle. As soon as she alighted, Odin ordered four Berserkir to hold her steed fast, who were, however, obliged to throw the animal on the ground ere they could effect their purpose. Hyrrokin then went to the ship, and with a single push set it afloat, but the motion was so violent that the fire sparkled from the rollers, and the earth shook all around. Thor, enraged at the sight, grasped his mallet, and but for the interference of the Æsir would have broken the woman’s skull”
― Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning

“King Atli had Hogni’s heart cut out while he was alive, and that was his death.”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology

“Norse mythology hints at Odinic cults, with Odin being worshipped through a combination of ecstatic and seemingly shamanistic rituals. From the eddic poem The Sayings of the High One ( Hávamál ), he is said to have hanged himself in a sacrificial ritual on a tree. Barely surviving this ordeal, Odin gains arcane knowledge, including the use of runes, the ancient Scandinavian alphabet sometimes used for magical purposes. In the poem, Odin chants :
I know that I hung
on the wind-swept tree
all nine nights
with spear was I wounded
and given to Odin,
myself to me,
on that tree which no one knows
from which roots it grows.

Bread I was not given,
no drink from the horn,
downwards I glared;
up I pulled the runes,
screaming I took them,
from there I fell back again.

- excerpt from Jesse L. Byock's Introduction and Notes, of Sturluson's Prose Edda.”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology

“When the Æsir saw Odin flying, they placed their vats in the courtyard, and when Odin entered Asgard he spat the mead into the vats. It was such a close call, with Suttung almost catching him, that he blew some of the mead out of his rear. No one paid attention to this part, and whoever wanted it took it; we call this the bad poets’ portion. Odin gave Suttung’s mead to the Æsir and to those men who know how to make poetry. For this reason we call poetry Odin’s catch, find, drink or gift, as well as the drink of the Æsir.’ 3”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda

“Another condition of her settlement was that the Æsir must do something she the beard of a goat and tied the other end around his own testicles. The goat and Loki started pulling back and forth, each squealing loudly until finally Loki fell into Skadi’s lap, and then she laughed.”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology

“The eighth was Lofdi; he was a great warrior king with a following called the Lofdar; he founded the dynasty of Lofdungs. To that lineage belongs Eylimi, the maternal grandfather of Sigurd who slew the serpent Fafnir.”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda

“The ninth was Sigar, founder of the Siklingar. To that lineage belongs Siggeir, the kinsman by marriage of Volsung, and the Sigar who hanged Hagbard.”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda

“Everybody can imagine how frightened the farmer became as he watched Thor’s eyebrows sink down low over his eyes. The small part of Thor’s eyes that was visible was a sight that alone could have killed. Thor’s hands clenched the shaft of the hammer until his knuckles whitened. As might be expected, the farmer and all his household began to wail. Begging for mercy, they offered in return everything they owned. When Thor saw their fear, his anger passed. Calming down, he took from them their children, Thjalfi and Roskva, as compensation. They became Thor’s bond servants and follow him ever since.”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology

“One of them, Veggdegg, was a powerful king who ruled over East Saxland. His son was Vitrgils, whose sons were Vitta, the father of Heingest, and Sigar, the father of Svebdegg, whom we call Svipdag.”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda

“The wolves came running swiftly
To rend the battle-fallen.”
― Snorri Sturluson, King Harald's Saga

“Og Sigurd
som skjenket ravnen,
Odins svane,
blodig øl,
mistet livet;
landets herre
ødela ham
ved Oglo.
Gullets øder,
den uredde,
livet lot
i luende ild,
da landkongene
brøt sitt løfte,
sveik i trygd
Tys ætling.”
― Snorri Sturluson

“THE life of Snorri Sturluson fell in a great but contradictory age, when all that was noble and spiritual in men seemed to promise social regeneration, and when bloody crimes and sordid ambitions gave this hope the lie. Not less than the rest of Europe, Scandinavia shared in the bitter conflict between the law of the spirit and the law of the members.”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda

“There is nothing but good to be told of [Balder]. He is the best of them and everyone sings his praises. He is so fair of face and bright that a splendor radiates from him, and there is a flower so white that it is likened to Balder’s brow; it is the whitest of all flowers. From that you can tell how beautiful his body is, and how bright his hair. He is the wisest of gods, and the sweetest-spoken, and the most merciful, but it is a characteristic of his that once he has pronounced a judgement it can never be altered.”
― Snorri Sturluson

“Asia.1 Everything in that part of the world is beautiful and stately, and the earth produces gold and gemstones. The middle of the world is also there. Just as the earth in that region is more beautiful and better in all ways than other places, so too the people there are most endowed with all blessings: wisdom and strength, beauty, and every kind of skill.”
― Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda