But then three mighty giant maidens came from Jötunheimr and the golden age came to an end. A golden age ensued where the Æsir had plenty of gold and happily constructed temples and made tools. 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 goes on to relate a creation myth and mentions Ymir the world was nothing but the magical void Ginnungagap until the sons of Burr lifted the earth out of the sea, creating the world. She says she remembers giants born in antiquity who reared her. The poem starts with the völva requesting silence from 'the sons of Heimdallr' (human beings) and asking Odin whether he wants her to recite ancient lore.

The Codex Regius version is usually taken as a base for editions. Some editors and translators have further rearranged the material. The order and number of the stanzas varies in these sources.

1220, oldest extant manuscript dates from ca. 1334), and many of its stanzas are quoted or paraphrased in the Prose Edda (composed ca. 1270) and in Haukr Erlendsson's Hauksbók Codex (ca. Völuspá is found in the Icelandic Codex Regius manuscript (ca. The poem is preserved whole in the Codex Regius and Hauksbók manuscripts while parts of it are quoted in the Prose Edda. It is one of the most important primary sources for the study of Norse mythology. It tells the story of the creation of the world and its coming end and subsequent rebirth, related to the audience by a völva addressing Odin. Völuspá (also Vǫluspá, Vǫlospá or Vǫluspǫ́ Old Norse: 'Prophecy of the völva, a seeress') is the best known poem of the Poetic Edda. The Elder Edda and the Younger Edda/Elder Edda/The Vala's Prophecy at Wikisource ' Odin and the Völva' (1895) by Lorenz Frølich.

Lyrics to nidhogg theme