Seven manuscripts of the Prose Edda have survived into the present day: Six copies from the medieval period and another dating to the 1600s. No one manuscript is complete, and each has variations. In addition to three fragments, the four main manuscripts are Codex Regius, Codex Wormianus, Codex Trajectinus, and the Codex Upsaliensis:[5]
| Name | Current location | Dating | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Codex Upsaliensis (DG 11) | University of Uppsala library, Sweden | First quarter of the 14th century.[6] | Provides some variants not found in any of the three other major manuscripts, such as the name Gylfaginning. |
| Codex Regius (GKS 2367 4°) | Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, Reykjavík, Iceland | First half of the 14th century.[6] | It is the most comprehensive of the four manuscripts, and is received by scholars to be closest to an original manuscript. This is why it is the basis for editions and translations of the Prose Edda. Its name is derived from its conservation in the Royal Library of Denmark for several centuries. From 1973 to 1997, hundreds of ancient Icelandic manuscripts were returned from Denmark to Iceland, including, in 1985, the Codex Regius, which is now preserved by the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies. |
| Codex Wormianus (AM 242 fol) | Arnamagnæan Manuscript Collection, Copenhagen, Denmark | Mid-14th century.[6] | None |
| Codex Trajectinus (MSS 1374) | University of Utrecht library, Netherlands | Written c. 1600.[6] | A copy of a manuscript that was made in the second half of the 13th century. |
The other three manuscripts are AM 748; AM 757 a 4to; and AM 738 II 4to, AM le ß fol. Although some scholars have doubted whether a sound stemma of the manuscripts can be created, due to the possibility of scribes drawing on multiple exemplars or from memory, recent work has found that the main sources of each manuscript can be fairly readily ascertained.[8] The Prose Edda' remained fairly unknown outside of Iceland until the publication of the Edda Islandorum in 1665.[9]
