Vǫluspá (also Völuspá, Vǫlospá or Vǫluspǫ́; Old Norse: 'Prophecy of the Seeress'; reconstructed Old Norse , Modern Icelandic ) is the first and best known poem of the Poetic Edda. It tells the story of the creation of the world and its coming end, related to the audience by a völva addressing Odin. It is one of the most important primary sources for the study of Norse mythology. Henry Adam Bellows proposed a 10th-century dating and authorship by a pagan Icelander with knowledge of Christianity. He also assumes the early hearers would have been very familiar with the "story" of the poem and not in need of an explanation.