Work companion right when leaving cheesy village (4)
I believe the answer is:
edda
'work' is the definition.
(medieval Norse literary work)
I don't understand the remainder of the clue.
(Other definitions for edda that I've seen before include "Old Scandinavian book of poetry, etc" , "mythic florilegia" , "series of stories" , "work in Scandinavia" , "Ancient Icelandic book" .)