The Prose Edda is the most famous work of Scandinavian literature and our most comprehensive source of Norse mythology. Written in Iceland a century after the end of the Viking Age, it recounts ancient tales of the Norse creation myth and describes the ensuing battles in which gods, giants, dwarves, and elves struggle for survival. It also preserves the oral accounts of heroes, warrior kings, and queens. In lucid prose interspersed with powerful verse, the Edda offers unparalleled insight into the gods' tragic discovery that the future holds a final, cataclysmic battle: Ragnarok, when the world will be destroyed. These stories from pagan times have become some of the most influential myths and legends, inspiring modern works as diverse as Wagner's Ring Cycle and Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings .