Völuspá (also Vǫluspá, Vǫlospá, or Vǫluspǫ́; Old Norse: 'Prophecy of the völva, a seeress') is the best known poem of the Poetic Edda. 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. Her name is given twice as Heiðr. The poem is one of the most important primary sources for the study of Norse mythology. Parts of the poem appear in the Prose Edda, but the earliest known wholly preserved version of the poem is in the Codex Regius and Hauksbók manuscripts.

Many of stanzas of Völuspá appear first in the Prose Edda (composed c. 1220, of which the oldest extant manuscript dates from the beginning of the fourteenth century, c. 1300), in which the stanzas are quoted or paraphrased. The full poem is found in the Icelandic Codex Regius manuscript (c. 1270) and in the Haukr Erlendsson Hauksbók Codex (c. 1334); the Codex Regius version is usually taken as a base for editions of the poem.

The order and number of the stanzas varies in the existing sources. Some editors and translators have further rearranged the material.

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 "famous tree" (mjǫtviðr mærr, perhaps Yggdrasill).

The völva proceeds to recite a creation myth, mentioning Ymir and that the world was nothing but the magical void, Ginnungagap, until the sons of Burr lifted the earth out of the sea. 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. A golden age ensued in which the Æsir had plenty of gold and they happily constructed temples and made tools. But then three mighty maidens came from Jötunheimar and the golden age came to an end. The Æsir then created the dwarfs, of whom Mótsognir and Durinn are the mightiest.

At this point ten of the poem's stanzas are considered complete. A section then appears in some versions that usually is considered an interpolation. It is entitled the "Dvergatal" ("Catalogue of Dwarfs") and it contains six stanzas with names of dwarves. The antiquity and role of this section in the poem is not clear and sometimes is omitted by editors and translators.

The poem continues with the creations of the first humans that are recounted along with a description of the world-tree, Yggdrasil. The völva recalls the burning of Gullveig that led to the first "folk" war, where Heiðr is a name assumed by Gullveig in connection with the war of the deities, and what occurred in the struggle between the Æsir and Vanir. 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 völva then reveals to Odin that she knows some of his own secrets and that he sacrificed an eye in pursuit of knowledge. She tells him that she knows where his eye is hidden and how he gave it up in exchange for knowledge. In several refrains she asks him whether he understands or whether he would like to hear more.