Editing Poetic Edda (section)

===Heroic lays===<!-- This section is linked from [[Valkyrie]] -->
After the mythological poems, the ''Codex Regius'' continues with [[heroic lay]]s about mortal heroes, examples of [[Germanic heroic legend]]. The [[heroic lay]]s are to be seen as a whole in the ''Edda'', but they consist of three layers: the story of [[Helgi Hundingsbane|Helgi Hundingsbani]], the story of the [[Nibelung]]s, and the story of [[Ermanaric|Jörmunrekkr]], king of the [[Goths]]. These are, respectively, Scandinavian, German, and Gothic in origin. As far as historicity can be ascertained, [[Attila]], [[Ermanaric|Jörmunrekkr]], and [[Brunhilde|Brynhildr]] actually existed, taking Brynhildr to be partly based on [[Brunhilda of Austrasia]], but the chronology has been reversed in the poems.

====In the ''Codex Regius''====
;The Helgi Lays
*''[[Helgakviða Hundingsbana I]]'' or ''Völsungakviða'' (''The First Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane, The First Lay of Helgi the Hunding-Slayer, The First Poem of Helgi Hundingsbani'')
*''[[Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar]]'' (''The Lay of Helgi the Son of Hjörvard, The Lay of Helgi Hjörvardsson, The Poem of Helgi Hjörvardsson'')
*''[[Helgakviða Hundingsbana II]]'' or ''Völsungakviða in forna'' (''The Second Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane, The Second Lay of Helgi the Hunding-Slayer, A Second Poem of Helgi Hundingsbani'')

;The Niflung Cycle
*''[[Frá dauda Sinfjötla|Frá dauða Sinfjötla]]'' (''Of Sinfjötli's Death, Sinfjötli's Death, The Death of Sinfjötli'') (A short prose text.)
*''[[Grípisspá]]'' (''Grípir's Prophecy, The Prophecy of Grípir'')
*''[[Reginsmál]]'' (''The Ballad of Regin, The Lay of Regin'')
*''[[Fáfnismál]]'' (''The Ballad of Fáfnir, The Lay of Fáfnir'')
*''[[Sigrdrífumál]]'' (''The Ballad of The Victory-Bringer, The Lay of Sigrdrífa'')
*''[[Brot af Sigurðarkviðu]]'' (''Fragment of a Sigurd Lay, Fragment of a Poem about Sigurd'')
*''[[Guðrúnarkviða I]]'' (''The First Lay of Gudrún'')
*''[[Sigurðarkviða hin skamma]]'' (''The Short Lay of Sigurd, A Short Poem about Sigurd'')
*''[[Helreið Brynhildar]]'' (''Brynhild's Hell-Ride, Brynhild's Ride to Hel, Brynhild's Ride to Hell'')
*''[[Dráp Niflunga]]'' (''The Slaying of The Niflungs, The Fall of the Niflungs, The Death of the Niflungs'')
*''[[Guðrúnarkviða II]]'' (''The Second Lay of Gudrún'' or ''Guðrúnarkviða hin forna'' ''The Old Lay of Gudrún'')
*''[[Guðrúnarkviða III]]'' (''The Third Lay of Gudrún'')
*''[[Oddrúnargrátr]]'' (''The Lament of Oddrún, The Plaint of Oddrún, Oddrún's Lament'')
*''[[Atlakviða]]'' (''The Lay of Atli''). The full manuscript title is ''Atlakviða hin grœnlenzka'', that is, ''The [[Greenland]] Lay of Atli'', but editors and translators generally omit the Greenland reference as a probable error from confusion with the following poem.
*''[[Atlamál hin groenlenzku]]'' (''The Greenland Ballad of Atli, The Greenlandish Lay of Atli, The Greenlandic Poem of Atli'')

;The Jörmunrekkr Lays
*''[[Guðrúnarhvöt]]'' (''Gudrún's Inciting, Gudrún's Lament, The Whetting of Gudrún.'')
*''[[Hamðismál]]'' (''The Ballad of Hamdir, The Lay of Hamdir'')

====Not in the ''Codex Regius''====
Several of the [[legendary sagas]] contain poetry in the Eddic style. Their age and importance is often difficult to evaluate but the ''[[Hervarar saga]]'', in particular, contains interesting poetic interpolations.

*''[[Hlöðskviða]]'' (''Lay of Hlöd'', also known in English as ''The Battle of the Goths and the Huns''), extracted from ''[[Hervarar saga]]''.
*''[[The Waking of Angantyr|The Waking of Angantýr]]'', extracted from ''[[Hervarar saga]]''.