This song picks up in the middle of Völuspá accounted for by a vǫlur - female practicer of seiðr, spá and galdr, practices which encompassed shamanism, sorcery, prophecy and other forms of indigenous magic associated with women. Seiðr in particular had connotations of ergi (unmanliness), a serious offense in Norse society. Historical and mythological depictions of vǫlur show that they were held in high esteem and believed to possess such powers that even the father of the gods, Odin himself, consulted a vǫlva to learn from the past and what the future had in store for the gods.

Altering between talking about herself in the first and third person she divines for the ancient, current and coming major accounts in the universe. Stanza 45 describes an age of wars, betrayals and greed followed by natural catastrophes and destruction. of the cosmos and all its inhabitants. In the end the cosmos is reborned, restored, and healed.