Who wrote the Prose Edda, which preserves a major account of Norse Ragnarok?

Snorri Sturluson wrote the Prose Edda, which preserves a major account of Norse Ragnarok.

Snorri was an Icelandic historian, poet, and law speaker who lived from about 1179 to 1241. His Prose Edda was probably written in the early 13th century, after Iceland had converted to Christianity.

The work explains poetic language and retells myths involving Odin, Thor, Loki, and the final destruction and renewal of the world. Its Ragnarok narrative is especially important because it records mythic material that otherwise survives only in shorter poetic sources.

A common mix-up is confusing the Prose Edda with the Poetic Edda. The Poetic Edda is a collection of anonymous Old Norse poems, while Snorri is the named author of the prose work. Snorri did not invent every myth he recorded; he drew on older poems and oral traditions.