*edda*

n.; pl. Eddas [ Icel., lit. great-grandmother (i. e., of Scandinavian poetry), so called by Bishop Brynjúlf Sveinsson, who brought it again to light in 1643. ] The religious or mythological book of the old Scandinavian tribes of German origin, containing two collections of Sagas (legends, myths) of the old northern gods and heroes. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ There are two Eddas. The older, consisting of 39 poems, was reduced to writing from oral tradition in Iceland between 1050 and 1133. The younger or prose Edda, called also the Edda of Snorri, is the work of several writers, though usually ascribed to Snorri Sturleson, who was born in 1178.

{ , a. Relating to the Eddas; resembling the Eddas. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Malay kedah, fr. Ar. qadah hole. ] An inclosure constructed to entrap wild elephants; an elephant trap. [ India ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. pl. (Ethnol.) A primitive people of Ceylon. [ Written also Weddars. ] Encyc Brit. [ 1913 Webster ]