Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/408

{|width="100%" The Gylfa-ginning follows, and relates the visit of Gylfe, a Swedish king and magician, to Asgard, in order to observe at its fountain head the spirit of northern wisdom. An English translation of the first part of the prose Edda is contained in Mallet's “Northern An- tiquities” (Bishop Percy's translation, new ed., London, 1847). The second part of the prose Edda, called Bragar hâttir, represents Bragi, the god of poetry, at a feast given by Ægir, god of the sea, entertaining the celestial company with a narration of their own exploits. The epilogue, or Eptimarli, written by Snorri Sturlason or by a contemporary, is an attempted solution of the Edda fables by events of the Trojan war. At the end of the prose Edda we have the Scalda, a kind of ars poetica, or manual for the use of the young students of the art. The German song of the Nibelungen speaks of adventures and heroes like those of the Scandinavian poems; but while the German poem was probably written about the year 1207, the Scandinavian poems are known to have been earlier, probably by several centuries.—Among the several editions and translations of the older Edda prepared in modern times stands prominent for scientific accuracy and convenience of use, H. Lüning's Edda, Urschrift mit Anmerkungen, Glossar und Einleitung (Zürich, 1859). The best German translation of the two Eddas is by Karl Simrock (Stuttgart, 1851), which has passed through several editions. The best French translation is by Léouzon-Leduc (Paris, 1868). Baring-Gould's “Iceland, its Scenes and Sagas” (London, 1863), gives an entertaining account of the substance of the Eddas. Eirikr Magnusson and William Morris assert that they give in their “Story of the Volsungs and Niblungs, with certain Songs from the Elder Edda” (London, 1870), the first translation into the English language.  EDDYSTONE ROCKS, a reef in the English channel, 600 or 700 ft. long, off the coast of Cornwall, about 10 m. S. of the Rame head, entrance of Plymouth sound. They consist of three principal ridges, which are entirely covered at high water. The celebrated lighthouse on one of these rocks was begun in 1756 and finished in 1759. Its tower is 68 ft. high, and is surmounted by a lantern which is furnished with 16 powerful argand burners, with parabolic reflectors of silvered copper. The first lighthouse on these rocks was built in 1696-'9, of stone and timber. It was swept away in 1703, and another tower of wood was completed six years afterward. This was burned in 1755, and the present edifice was then commenced by the celebrated engineer John Smeaton. The material employed was Portland stone, encased in granite, partly quarried from the rock itself, into which the foundations were dovetailed. The violence of the swell at the lighthouse renders communication with the shore extremely difficult even in serene weather, and the sea frequently rises above the light, the strong plate glass of the lantern having been more than once broken by the waves.—See "A Narrative of the Building of Eddystone Lighthouse," by Smeaton (4to, London, 1791).
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 * align="center"|EDDYSTONE ROCKS
 * align="center" width="50%"|EDENTATA
 * } Scandinavan race from the heroes of Troy.

 EDEN (Heb., pleasure, delight; also gan Eden, garden of delight), the Scriptural name of the place where God placed Adam and Eve before the fall. In the Septuagint it is called Paradise, that is, a park or pleasure garden. It was watered by a river which, issuing forth, branched into four streams, named Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel (or Tigris), and Euphrates. No locality can now be fixed for the garden of Eden. The geographical indications in the book of Genesis are too vaguely expressed to enable us to determine with any approach to certainty which locality is meant. The most probable opinion seems to be that which assigns Eden a place somewhere among the mountainous regions of Armenia, where the rivers Tigris and Euphrates take their rise. Some writers, however, are of opinion that the garden of Eden is only a figurative expression, not intended to indicate any actual locality on earth. A few years ago Sir Henry Rawlinson, in a discourse before the royal society, asserted that he had deciphered the word “Eden” in cuneiform inscriptions among the ruins of Nineveh, and that it was a name given to Babylon. Eden is also the Scriptural name of a territory, probably in the Euphrates valley, mentioned among the conquests of the Assyrians.  EDENTATA, a small group of mammals, elevated into an order by Cuvier, and associated rather by negative than positive characters; these are, a partial or total absence of teeth, the possession of very large claws embracing