The book in question is a medieval Icelandic manual on poetics that also serves as a compendium of Norse mythology and heroic legends. Written by an influential historian, poet, and politician, it is intended as a guidebook for aspiring poets to understand the complex metaphors that permeate Old Norse poetic tradition. The work is divided into several sections, beginning with a prologue that provides a Christianized account of the origin of the Norse gods, followed by a narrative that explains the mythological cosmos, the pantheon of gods and their adventures, and the eschatological destiny of the world in Ragnarök. The latter part of the text focuses on the art of skaldic poetry, including its metrics, stylistic conventions, and the use of kennings, which are intricate metaphorical phrases that characterize much of Norse verse.

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