Who wrote the Prose Edda, a major medieval source for Norse afterlife myths?

Snorri Sturluson wrote the Prose Edda, a major medieval source for Norse afterlife myths. Snorri was an Icelandic poet, historian, and political figure who lived from 1179 to 1241.

The Prose Edda explains poetic language and retells stories about gods, heroes, creation, Ragnarök, Valhalla, and other mythological subjects. Its principal sections include Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál, and Háttatal, although manuscript organization and titles vary among editions.

The Prose Edda is not the same work as the Poetic Edda. The latter is a collection of anonymous mythological and heroic poems preserved chiefly in the Codex Regius manuscript. Snorri used older poetic traditions, but his book was written in medieval Iceland several centuries after the pre-Christian period described by the myths.