It dates back to the tenth century and tells the story from Norse Mythology of the creation of the world, its coming end, and its subsequent rebirth that is related to the audience by a völva addressing Odin.

The poem starts with the völva requesting silence from "the sons of Heimdallr" (human beings) and she then asks Odin whether he wants her to recite ancient lore based on her memory.

She says she remembers jötnar born in antiquity who reared her, nine worlds, and the tree of life (Mjötviður mær, or axis mundi).

The völva proceeds to recite a creation myth, mentioning Ymir and that the world was nothing but the magical void, Ginnungagap,[2] until the sons of Burr lifted the earth out of the sea.

[3] The Æsir then established order in the cosmos by finding places for the sun, the moon, and the stars, thereby starting the cycle of day and night.

She then recalls the time the goddess Freyja was given to the jötnar, which is commonly interpreted as a reference to the myth of the jötunn builder, as told in Gylfaginning 42.

The surviving Æsir reunite with Hœnir and meet together at the field of Iðavöllr, discussing Jörmungandr, great events of the past, and the runic alphabet.

A final stanza describes the sudden appearance of the dragon Nidhogg, bearing corpses in his wings, after which the völva emerges from her trance.

[5] In March 2018, a team of medieval historians and scientists from the University of Cambridge suggested that the Icelandic poem, Vǫluspá, that is estimated to date from 961 was a roughly contemporary chronicle of the eruption of the volcano Eldgjá in 939.