The Codex Regius manuscript preserves the Poetic Edda, the most important surviving collection of Old Norse mythological and heroic poems.
The manuscript was written in Iceland around 1270, although many of the poems it contains are considerably older. Its poems present figures such as Odin, Thor, Loki, Sigurd, Brynhild, and the gods and heroes associated with Ragnarök.
The name “Poetic Edda” distinguishes this verse collection from Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda. The two works overlap in subject matter, but the Prose Edda is a later prose handbook and narrative source, while the Poetic Edda consists chiefly of poems.
The Codex Regius was discovered in Iceland in the 17th century and later presented to the Danish king. It returned to Iceland in 1971 and is now held by the Árni Magnússon Institute in Reykjavík. “Codex Regius” means “Royal Book,” a name also used for other medieval manuscripts.