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 Chapter 7 - Intelligence and Reasoning
Student: ___________________________________________________________________________

1. Which of the following was not viewed as an indicator of intelligence by the experts and laypersons
interviewed during Sternberg’s research?

A. social competence
B. problem solving abilities
C. verbal ability
D. spatial ability

2. The fact that some aspects of intelligence seem to decline while other aspects show increases with age is
reflected in which component of the life-span perspective?

A. plasticity
B. multidirectionality
C. interindividual variability
D. intraindividual consistency

3. Which of the following is not a basic concept of the life-span view?

A. plasticity.
B. multidirectionality
C. interindividual variability
D. intraindividual consistency

4. In Baltes’ dual-component model, cognition as a basic process concerns

A. acquisition of symbolic knowledge.

B. everyday cognitive performance and human adaptation.
C. developmental changes in basic forms of thinking.
D. modification of underlying fluid intelligence abilities.

5. In the dual-component model, pragmatic intelligence dominates during

A. childhood.
B. adolescence.
C. adulthood.
D. throughout the life-span.

6. According to the dual-component model, adulthood is predominantly concerned with the growth of

A. fluid intelligence.
B. crystallized intelligence.
C. inter-cohort similarity.
D. multidiversity trends.

1
7. Which approach to intelligence emphasizes scores on standardized tests?

A. psychometric
B. neofunctionalist
C. cognitive
D. applied

8. In the psychometric approach, intelligence refers to

A. the stages of intellectual growth.

B. moderators of performance.
C. the organization of interrelated abilities.
D. how test performance data are analyzed.

9. The approach to intelligence that focuses on developmental changes in the way people conceptualize
problems and styles of thinking is known as

A. psychometric approach.
B. dual-component model.
C. cognitive structural approach.
D. practical intelligence.

10. The hierarchy of intelligence from the lowest to highest levels is:

A. test questions, tests, primary mental abilities, secondary mental abilities, third order
mental abilities, general intelligence
B. primary mental abilities, secondary mental abilities, third order mental abilities, general intelligence,
test questions, tests
C. primary mental abilities, secondary mental abilities, test questions, tests, third order mental abilities,
general intelligence
D. primary mental abilities, test questions, tests, general intelligence, secondary mental abilities, third
order mental abilities

11. If the performance on one test is highly related to the performance on another, the abilities measured by
the two tests are interrelated and called a

A. test.
B. trait.
C. factor.
D. correlation.

12. Which of the following is not a primary mental ability?

A. verbal meaning
B. inductive reasoning
C. word fluency
D. fluid intelligence

2
13. Which researcher’s name is associated with largest and most comprehensive sequential study of
intelligence?

A. Wechsler
B. Sternberg
C. Salthouse
D. K. Warner Schaie

14. Longitudinal sequential research on primary mental abilities reveals

A. no age-related declines.
B. major declines prior to age 40.
C. little practical decline until age 60.
D. identical patterns for all abilities.

15. By age_____ nearly everyone shows decline on one ability, though very few people show decline on four
or five abilities

A. 70
B. 88
C. 50
D. 60

16. The secondary mental ability focused on the perception of visual patterns is

A. auditory organization.
B. visual organization.
C. crystallized intelligence.
D. fluid intelligence.

17. The secondary mental ability focused on fluent perception of auditory patterns is

A. auditory organization.
B. visual organization.
C. crystallized intelligence.
D. fluid intelligence.

18. An individual’s innate abilities independent of acquired knowledge and experience constitute

A. fluid intelligence.
B. crystallized intelligence.
C. primary intelligence.
D. tertiary intelligence.

19. Figuring out which letter goes next in the series “z, w, s, n _____” is an example of

A. fluid intelligence.
B. crystallized intelligence.
C. primary intelligence.
D. tertiary intelligence.

3
20. Knowledge acquired through experience and education constitutes

A. fluid intelligence.
B. crystallized intelligence.
C. primary intelligence.
D. tertiary intelligence.

21. Which of the following tests would not measure crystallized intelligence?

A. vocabulary
B. intentional learning
C. comprehension
D. inductive reasoning

22. Knowing all the names of each president and vice president of the United States of America draws on
which intelligence?

A. fluid intelligence
B. crystallized intelligence
C. primary intelligence
D. tertiary intelligence

23. On the television show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” many of the big winners have been in their 40s
and 50s. This likely due to their superiority in which type of intelligence?

A. fluid
B. emotional
C. crystallized
D. inductive reasoning

24. In general, crystallized and fluid intelligence show

A. opposite developmental trends.

B. identical developmental trends.
C. no developmental trends.
D. unknown developmental trends.

25. Based on the developmental changes in fluid and crystallized intelligence, on which type of test would
you expect an older person to receive a high score?

A. vocabulary
B. perceptual speed
C. spatial relations
D. inductive reasoning

Based on the research on fluid and crystallized intelligence, we know that

A. learning continues through adulthood.

B. learning gets easier through adulthood.
C. you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
D. learning in adulthood is tedious and should be avoided.

4
From the research on intelligence, we know that with increasing age,

A. there are gains in information-processing abilities.

B. there are losses in information-processing abilities.
C. there are declines in experienced-based processes.
D. information-processing abilities and experienced-based processes remain stable.

Evidence concerning crystallized and fluid intelligence shows that

A. all abilities change at the same rate.

B. all abilities decline.
C. intellectual development is constant.
D. intellectual development is diverse.

Which of the following is not a moderator of intellectual change?

A. cohort
B. educational level
C. occupation
D. gender

The fact that younger generations generally do better on primary mental abilities than older generations
is an example of

A. a cohort effect.
B. changes in information processing system.
C. better health care improving mental functioning.
D. all of these.

Which of the following is not a social demographic variable implicated in reducing rates of intellectual
decline?

A. having a complex job

B. exposure to stimulating environments
C. utilization of cultural and educational resources
D. low educational level

Schaie (1995) reported that individuals with which personality characteristic at midlife tend to
experience fewer declines in intellectual competence?

A. egocentricism
B. personal control
C. flexible attitude
D. introversion

With respect to health and intellectual performance,

A. physical health is not related to intellectual performance.

B. the relationship between cardiovascular disease and intelligence is controversial.
C. less healthy people tend to be more intellectual.
D. the connection between cardiovascular disease and intelligence is well established.

5
Compared to traditional intelligence tests, basic skills tests (e.g., reading street maps, reading labels) are

A. less relevant to everyday life of older adults and does not measure similar concepts.
B. more relevant to everyday life of older adults and measure similar concepts.
C. more complex for older adults and measure different concepts.
D. unrelated to each other.

Research comparing performance on standardized and everyday versions of tasks showed that older
adults’ everyday performance correlated best with measures of

A. inductive reasoning.
B. crystallized intelligence.
C. fluid intelligence.
D. vocabulary.

Project ADEPT and Project ACTIVE examined whether primary mental abilities could be
trained. Which second-order ability is related to the abilities trained in ADEPT and ACTIVE?

A. fluid intelligence
B. crystallized intelligence
C. short-term memory
D. long-term memory

Project ACTIVE training on spatial or reasoning ability reveals that

A. training did not change intellectual performance.

B. training improved spatial ability but not reasoning ability.
C. training reversed 14-year declines.
D. training actually made declines worse.

Research on the long-term effects of cognitive training on fluid abilities shows that

A. effects can last as long as seven years.

B. effects do not last longer than one year.
C. effects are strong in the beginning and then are eliminated.
D. effects are present only in women.

Project ADEPT showed that

A. older adults’ performance could not be improved by training.

B. the improvements due to training disappear after a few months.
C. it was necessary to combine training with medication to see improvements.
D. training and booster sessions resulted in improved performance.

Seven years after completing training on primary mental abilities in Project ADEPT, over _____ were
still performing above baseline rates.

A. 20%
B. 40%
C. 60%
D. 80%

6
According to Piaget, what is responsible for cognitive development?

A. changes in cognitive structures

B. changes in function
C. changes in assimilation processes
D. changes in behavior

According to Piaget’s theory, interpreting the world in terms of existing cognitive structures is called

A. organization.
B. operations.
C. accommodation.
D. assimilation.

Using what you know about fast food restaurants to order lunch at a new burger place is an example of
_____ in Piaget’s theory.

A. organization
B. operations
C. accommodation
D. assimilation

According to Piaget’s theory, changing one’s thoughts to make a better approximation of the world is
called

A. organization.
B. operations.
C. accommodation.
D. assimilation.

Changing how you study for algebra exams as compared to history exams would be an example of _____
in Piaget’s theory.

A. organization
B. operations
C. accommodation
D. assimilation

Which of the following is the correct sequence of Piaget’s stages?

A. concrete operations, sensorimotor, formal operations, preoperational

B. sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations, formal operations
C. formal operations, concrete operations, preoperational, sensorimotor
D. preoperational, formal operations, sensorimotor, concrete operations

Traditional scientific reasoning is an example of which aspect of formal operations?

A. hypothetico-deductive thought
B. multiple frameworks
C. reality constraints
D. multiple solutions

7
Mary is frustrated with her psychology professor because she will not tell Mary which theory of
intelligence is the “correct” one. Mary is demonstrating which aspect of formal operations?

A. hypothetico-deductive thought
B. multiple frameworks
C. reality constraints
D. single solution

Which of the following statements is an example of unconstrained thought?

A. “There is only one answer to this problem.”

B. “Let’s assume the United States disarms unilaterally.”
C. “If A>B, and B>C, then A>C.”
D. “If you do not agree that standing on your head is silly, then you are wrong.”

Which of the following is not a characteristic of formal operations?

A. hypothetico-deductive thought
B. logical structure
C. reality constraints
D. one solution

Research on developmental trends in formal operations shows that

A. older adults outperform younger adults.

B. college-educated adults typically skip this stage.
C. all adults operate at this level.
D. some adults never attain this level.

Which type of thought is characterized by the recognition that the correct answer varies from situation to
situation, the solutions must be realistic, that ambiguity is the rule rather than the exception, and that
emotion and subjective factors usually play a role in thinking?

A. concrete operational thought

B. formal operational thought
C. postformal thought
D. reflective thought

Postformal thought is characterized by all of the following except

A. the correct answer varies from situation to situation.

B. there is only one correct answer.
C. emotion and subjective factors usually play a role in thinking.
D. the recognition that the solutions must be realistic.

How people reason through dilemmas involving current affairs, religion, science, etc. are using

A. postformal thought.
B. reflective judgment.
C. absolutist judgment.
D. none of these.

8
According to Kitchener and Fischer (1990), the highest developmental level of information-processing a
person is capable of is known as

A. skill acquisition.
B. reflective judgment.
C. optimal level.
D. procedural knowing.

According to Kramer, Kahlbaugh, and Goldston (1992) reflective judgment progresses in the following
order:

A. relativistic; absolutist; dialectical

B. absolutist; relativistic; dialectical
C. dialectical; relativistic; absolutist
D. absolutist; dialectical; relativistic

Realizing that there can be more than one right answer to a problem, and that they are dependent on
situational circumstances demonstrates

A. absolutism.
B. mechanism.
C. formalism.
D. relativism.

The research on emotion and thought processes concluded that

A. high school students tend to think at higher developmental levels when confronted with emotionally
salient problems (e.g., pregnancy).
B. middle-aged adults tend to think at lower developmental levels when confronted with emotionally
salient problems (e.g., children).
C. high school students tend to think at lower developmental levels when confronted with emotionally
salient problems (e.g., pregnancy).
D. middle-aged adults tend to think at higher developmental levels when confronted with emotionally
salient problems (e.g., children).

Reasoning about highly emotionally-charged dilemmas

A. is easier for young adults.

B. is easier for older adults.
C. is easier for adolescents.
D. is easier for middle-aged adults.

The research on gender and thought processes reports that

A. males reason in more sophisticated ways than females.

B. the different ways of knowing are unique to males.
C. males and females reason is qualitatively different ways.
D. the different ways of knowing are found in both males and females.

9
Which of the following is not true of older adults’ decision making?

A. Older adults have difficulty in unfamiliar situations.

B. Older adults have difficulty when under time pressure.
C. Older adults have difficulty when decision-making requires a lot of capacity.
D. Older adults’ quality of decisions is not as good as younger adults.

In Denney’s model, which of the following terms refers to the ability a normal healthy adult would
exhibit without practice or training?

A. optimally exercised ability

B. pragmatic intelligence
C. unexercised ability
D. interindividual variability

Fluid intelligence is an example of

A. cognition as basic processes.

B. interdependent third-order abilities.
C. unexercised ability.
D. optimally exercised ability.

In Denney’s model, which of the following terms refers to the ability a normal healthy adult would
exhibit with practice or training?

A. optimally exercised ability

B. pragmatic intelligence
C. unexercised ability
D. interindividual variability

Crystallized intelligence is an example of

A. cognition as basic processes.

B. interdependent third-order abilities.
C. untrained or unpracticed ability.
D. optimally exercised ability.

Research on practical problem solving shows that

A. performance peaks in early adulthood and then declines.

B. performance increases from early adulthood to middle age.
C. performance increases most between middle and old age.
D. performance remains the same across adulthood.

The "triumph of knowledge over reasoning" is best documented by research on

A. wisdom.
B. expertise.
C. postformal thought.
D. unexercised abilities.

10
Experts

A. use novel approaches to solve difficult problems.

B. have extensive knowledge about a particular topic.
C. are highly practiced.
D. use all of these.

The process of encapsulation refers to the way in which

A. the processes of thinking becomes disconnected from the products of thinking.

B. the processes of thinking improves while the products of thinking decline.
C. the processes of thinking declines while the products of thinking improve.
D. the processes of thinking becomes connected to the products of thinking.

The Dalai Lama wisdom story at the beginning of the chapter highlighted all of the following
characteristics of wisdom except

A. it involved practical knowledge.

B. it was given at a price.
C. it was based on life experience.
D. it involved psychological insights.

Wisdom is viewed as involving the following cognitive processes except

A. practical and social intelligence.

B. insight into the deeper meanings underlying a given situation.
C. constrained thinking.
D. awareness of the relative, uncertain, and paradoxical nature of problems.

Wisdom is

A. the same thing as creativity.

B. the generation of a new solution to a problem.
C. different than creativity.
D. characterized by constrained reasoning processes.

Research on wisdom shows that it is most associated with

A. creativity.
B. age.
C. fluid intelligence.
D. life experience.

Research on age differences in wisdom shows that

A. there is little association between the two.

B. wisdom increases dramatically during old age.
C. there are few individual differences.
D. young adults cannot be wise.

11
Which of the following is not a specific factor identified by Baltes and Staudinger (2000) to help a
person become wise?

A. intraindividual variability
B. general personal conditions
C. specific expertise conditions
D. facilitating life contexts

Identify and provide an example of the major clusters of intelligence agreed upon by both experts and
laypersons. WWW

Identify and discuss the basic concepts underlying the life-span approach to intelligence.

Describe the basic assumptions to each theoretical approach to intelligence discussed in the
chapter. How might the assumptions of each influence the type of questions that these researchers
ask? Make sure that your response includes an example of the type of questions that would be asked by
each approach.

12
Intelligence is conceptualized by some as a hierarchy. Describe the hierarchical structure of
intelligence. WWW

Describe the major findings from Schaie’s Seattle Longitudinal Study and the implications.

Discuss the correspondence between primary mental abilities and secondary mental abilities. WWW

There have been several projects designed to train cognitive abilities. Describe these studies and their
outcomes.

13
How are the primary and secondary mental abilities related to the aspects of information processing
considered in the information-processing model (Chapter 6) and memory (Chapter 7)?

Identify and differentiate among the Piagetian concepts of organization, adaptation, assimilation,
accommodation, and hypothetico-deductive reasoning. WWW

Discuss the correspondence of postformal thought and crystallized intelligence.

If you are not a postformal thinker, can you truly understand the concept of postformal
thought? Why? Make sure that your response discusses the characteristics of a postformal thinker.

14
Briefly describe the components and their developmental trajectory in Denney’s model of unexercised
and optimally exercised abilities. How is Denney’s model related to secondary mental abilities?

Describe absolutist, relativistic, and dialectical thought. WWW

How are emotion and logic integrated into thought? Make sure that your response summarizes the
research on this topic.

Describe the correspondence between Schaie’s findings and the primary mental abilities in the Seattle
Longitudinal Study and normative age-related physiological changes in brain.

15
Several factors have been implicated as moderators of intellectual functioning. Describe the factors that
have been implicated as moderators and make sure that your response specifically addresses how the
moderators operate.

How can specific lifestyle factors and health conditions influence intellectual functioning?

What aspects of secondary mental abilities do you think would be most closely linked to
expertise? Why?

Summarize the model of wisdom developed by Baltes and his colleagues.

16
How are the developmental forces described in Chapter 1 related to intelligence?

____________________ theorists are interested in individual differences and plasticity in intelligence.

________________________________________

____________________ are the distinct patterns of change in abilities over the lifespan, where some
abilities remain stable and others increase or decrease.

________________________________________

The range of functioning within an individual and the conditions under which a person’s abilities can be
modified within a specific age range is____________________.

________________________________________

Intelligence is____________________, meaning that it consists of many dimensions.

________________________________________

In the dual-component model, the phrase____________________,is used to discuss the first cognitive
process, which concerns developmental changes in basic information-processing and problem-solving
abilities.

________________________________________

The____________________to intelligence involves defining intelligence as right or wrong performance

on standardized tests.

________________________________________

____________________ are independent abilities within psychometric intelligence based on different

combinations of standardized intelligence tests.

________________________________________

Crystallized and fluid intelligence are examples of____________________mental abilities.

________________________________________

____________________ are the interrelations among performance on similar tests of psychometric

intelligence.

________________________________________

17
The____________________to intelligence emphasizes the ways in which people conceptualize problems
and focuses on modes or styles of thinking.

________________________________________

Using currently available knowledge to make sense of incoming information is

____________________.

________________________________________

____________________ can solve problems in novel ways, have extensive knowledge, and are highly
practiced.

________________________________________

Many adults are thought to possess____________________, which is characterized by the recognition

that truth varies across situations, solutions to problems are realistic and reasonable, ambiguity and
contradiction are the norm, and emotional and subjective factors play a role in thinking.

________________________________________

The term____________________is used by researchers to describe the process of having the processes
of thinking (e.g., attention, memory) become connected to the products of thinking.

________________________________________

Thought involving how people reason through dilemmas involving current affairs, religion, and science
is known as____________________.

________________________________________

18
 Chapter 7 - Intelligence and Reasoning Key
1. D

2. B

3. D

4. C

5. C

6. B

7. A

8. C

9. C

10. A

11. C

12. D

13. D

14. C

15. D

16. B

17. A

18. A

19. A

20. B

21. D

22. B

23. C

24. A

25. A

1
D

2
D

Answer not provided

Answer not provided

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Life-span

Multidirectional

plasticity

3
multidimensional

cognition as basic processes

psychometric approach

Primary mental abilities

secondary

Factors

cognitive-process approach

assimilation

Experts

postformal thought

encapsulation

reflective judgment

4
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of The poetic
Edda
 This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

Title: The poetic Edda

Translated from the Icelandic with an Introduction and
notes

Editor: Henry Adams Bellows

Author: Saemund

Release date: May 4, 2024 [eBook #73533]

Language: English

Original publication: New York: The American-Scandinavian

Foundation, 1923

Credits: Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed

Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net/ for Project
Gutenberg (This file was produced from images
generously made available by The Internet
Archive/Canadian Libraries)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE POETIC

EDDA ***
[Contents]

[Contents]
A PAGE FROM THE CODEX REGIUS COMPRISING
VERSES 31 TO 45 OF THE VOLUSPO

[Contents]
 THE POETIC EDDA

TRANSLATED FROM THE ICELANDIC

WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES
BY
HENRY ADAMS BELLOWS

TWO VOLUMES IN ONE

NEW YORK
THE AMERICAN-SCANDINAVIAN
 FOUNDATION
LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
1923

[Contents]

Copyright, 1923, by The American-Scandinavian Foundation

C. S. Peterson, The Regan Press, Chicago, U. S. A.

[Contents]

This series of Scandinavian Classics is published by

The American-Scandinavian Foundation in the belief
that greater familiarity with the chief literary monuments
of the North will help Americans to a better
understanding of Scandinavians, and thus serve to
stimulate their sympathetic coöperation to good ends.

[Contents]

To George Lyman Kittredge

[Contents]

SCANDINAVIAN CLASSICS
VOLUMES XXI AND XXII

THE POETIC EDDA

[Contents]
 ESTABLISHED BY NIELS POULSON

THIS VOLUME IS ENDOWED IN PART BY CHARLES

S. PETERSON OF CHICAGO [vii]

[Contents]
 CONTENTS 1
General Introduction xi

Lays of the Gods

Voluspo 1
Hovamol 28
Vafthruthnismol 68
Grimnismol 84
Skirnismol 107
Harbarthsljoth 121
Hymiskvitha 138
Lokasenna 151
Thrymskvitha 174
Alvissmol 183
Baldrs Draumar 195
Rigsthula 201
Hyndluljoth 217
Svipdagsmol 234

Lays of the Heroes

Völundarkvitha 252
Helgakvitha Hjorvarthssonar 269
Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I 290
 Helgakvitha Hundingsbana II 309
Fra Dautha Sinfjotla 332
Gripisspo 337
Reginsmol [viii] 356
Fafnismol 370
Sigrdrifumol 386
Brot af Sigurtharkvithu 402
Guthrunarkvitha I 411
Sigurtharkvitha en Skamma 420
Helreith Brynhildar 442
Drap Niflunga 447
Guthrunarkvitha II, en Forna 450
Guthrunarkvitha III 465
Oddrunargratr 469
Atlakvitha en Grönlenzka 480
Atlamol en Grönlenzku 499
Guthrunarhvot 536
Hamthesmol 545

[ix]

1
For the phonetic spellings of the proper names see the Pronouncing
Index. ↑
[Contents]
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The General Introduction mentions many of the
scholars to whose work this translation owes a special
debt. Particular reference, however, should here be
made to the late William Henry Schofield, Professor of
Comparative Literature in Harvard University and
President of The American-Scandinavian Foundation,
under whose guidance this translation was begun; to
Henry Goddard Leach, for many years Secretary of The
American-Scandinavian Foundation, and to William
Witherle Lawrence, Professor of English in Columbia
University and Chairman of the Foundation’s
Committee on Publications, for their assistance with the
manuscript and the proofs; and to Hanna Astrup
Larsen, the Foundation’s literary secretary, for her
efficient management of the complex details of
publication. [xi]

[Contents]
 GENERAL INTRODUCTION
There is scarcely any literary work of great importance
which has been less readily available for the general
reader, or even for the serious student of literature, than
the Poetic Edda. Translations have been far from
numerous, and only in Germany has the complete work
of translation been done in the full light of recent
scholarship. In English the only versions were long the
conspicuously inadequate one made by Thorpe, and
published about half a century ago, and the
unsatisfactory prose translations in Vigfusson and
Powell’s Corpus Poeticum Boreale, reprinted in the
Norrœna collection. An excellent translation of the
poems dealing with the gods, in verse and with critical
and explanatory notes, made by Olive Bray, was,
however, published by the Viking Club of London in
1908. In French there exist only partial translations,
chief among them being those made by Bergmann
many years ago. Among the seven or eight German
versions, those by the Brothers Grimm and by Karl
Simrock, which had considerable historical importance
because of their influence on nineteenth century
German literature and art, and particularly on the work
of Richard Wagner, have been largely superseded by
Hugo Gering’s admirable translation, published in 1892,
and by the recent two-volume rendering by Genzmer,
with excellent notes by Andreas Heusler, 1914–1920.
There are competent translations in both Norwegian
and Swedish. The lack of any complete and adequately
annotated English rendering in metrical form, based on
a critical text, and profiting by the cumulative labors of
such scholars as Mogk, Vigfusson, [xii]Finnur Jonsson,
Grundtvig, Bugge, Gislason, Hildebrand, Lüning,
Sweet, Niedner, Ettmüller, Müllenhoff, Edzardi, B. M.
Olsen, Sievers, Sijmons, Detter, Heinzel, Falk, Neckel,
Heusler, and Gering, has kept this extraordinary work
practically out of the reach of those who have had
neither time nor inclination to master the intricacies of
the original Old Norse.

On the importance of the material contained in the

Poetic Edda it is here needless to dwell at any length.
We have inherited the Germanic traditions in our very
speech, and the Poetic Edda is the original storehouse
of Germanic mythology. It is, indeed, in many ways the
greatest literary monument preserved to us out of the
antiquity of the kindred races which we call Germanic.
Moreover, it has a literary value altogether apart from
its historical significance. The mythological poems
include, in the Voluspo, one of the vastest conceptions
of the creation and ultimate destruction of the world
ever crystallized in literary form; in parts of the
Hovamol, a collection of wise counsels that can bear
comparison with most of the Biblical Book of Proverbs;
in the Lokasenna, a comedy none the less full of vivid
characterization because its humor is often broad; and
in the Thrymskvitha, one of the finest ballads in the
world. The hero poems give us, in its oldest and most
vivid extant form, the story of Sigurth, Brynhild, and Atli,
the Norse parallel to the German Nibelungenlied. The
Poetic Edda is not only of great interest to the student
of antiquity; it is a collection including some of the most
remarkable poems which have been preserved to us
from the period before the pen and the printing-press
replaced the poet-singer and oral tradition. It is above
all else the desire [xiii]to make better known the dramatic
force, the vivid and often tremendous imagery, and the
superb conceptions embodied in these poems which
has called forth the present translation.

[Contents]

WHAT IS THE POETIC EDDA?

Even if the poems of the so-called Edda were not so

significant and intrinsically so valuable, the long series
of scholarly struggles which have been going on over
them for the better part of three centuries would in itself
give them a peculiar interest. Their history is strangely
mysterious. We do not know who composed them, or
when or where they were composed; we are by no
means sure who collected them or when he did so;
finally, we are not absolutely certain as to what an
“Edda” is, and the best guess at the meaning of the
word renders its application to this collection of poems
more or less misleading.

A brief review of the chief facts in the history of the

Poetic Edda will explain why this uncertainty has
persisted. Preserved in various manuscripts of the
thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries is a prose work
consisting of a very extensive collection of mythological
stories, an explanation of the important figures and
tropes of Norse poetic diction,—the poetry of the
Icelandic and Norwegian skalds was appallingly
complex in this respect,—and a treatise on metrics.
This work, clearly a handbook for poets, was commonly
known as the “Edda” of Snorri Sturluson, for at the
head of the copy of it in the Uppsalabok, a manuscript
written presumably some fifty or sixty years after
Snorri’s death, which was in 1241, we find: “This book
is called Edda, which Snorri Sturluson composed.” This
work, well known as the Prose Edda, Snorri’s Edda or
the [xiv]Younger Edda, has recently been made available
to readers of English in the admirable translation by
Arthur G. Brodeur, published by the American-
Scandinavian Foundation in 1916.
Icelandic tradition, however, persisted in ascribing
either this Edda or one resembling it to Snorri’s much
earlier compatriot, Sæmund the Wise (1056–1133).
When, early in the seventeenth century, the learned
Arngrimur Jonsson proved to everyone’s satisfaction
that Snorri and nobody else must have been
responsible for the work in question, the next thing to
determine was what, if anything, Sæmund had done of
the same kind. The nature of Snorri’s book gave a clue.
In the mythological stories related a number of poems
were quoted, and as these and other poems were to all
appearances Snorri’s chief sources of information, it
was assumed that Sæmund must have written or
compiled a verse Edda—whatever an “Edda” might be
—on which Snorri’s work was largely based.

So matters stood when, in 1643, Brynjolfur Sveinsson,

Bishop of Skalholt, discovered a manuscript, clearly
written as early as 1300, containing twenty-nine poems,
complete or fragmentary, and some of them with the
very lines and stanzas used by Snorri. Great was the
joy of the scholars, for here, of course, must be at least
a part of the long-sought Edda of Sæmund the Wise.
Thus the good bishop promptly labeled his find, and as
Sæmund’s Edda, the Elder Edda or the Poetic Edda it
has been known to this day.

This precious manuscript, now in the Royal Library in

Copenhagen, and known as the Codex Regius