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Völuspá

Völuspá is in Norse mythology. It is the first and most well-known poem from the Poetic Edda. It is about the creation and end of the world, related to Odin by a völva (seeress).

The prophecy beings with an adress to Odin. The seeress speaks of the creation of the world in an abridged form. Next the seeress speaks of how she came by her knwoledge and tells Odin of the present and future happenings. Finally, she tells Odin about Ragnarök (the end of the world) and its second coming.

At creation, the world was empty until the sons of Burr lifted the lands out of the ocean. Afterwards, the Æsir (principal gods) established order in the cosmos and found places for the sun, moon, and stars, which began the cycle of the day and night. For a time, the Æsir lived in a golden age, where they were happy. This ended with the coming fo three giant maidens from Jötunheimar. After that, the Æsir created the dwarves. After this follows the Dvergatal, which lists the names of Dwarves.

After the Dvergatal, the seeress speaks of the creation of the first man and woman. She also describes Yggdrassil, the world-tree. The tells Odin about the events leading to the first war, and the struggle between the Æsir and Vanir.

After this, she speaks of the future, which is full of troubles, including the slaying Baldr, the best and fairest of the gods, the enmity of Loki and others, and the final desturction of the gods-Ragnarök (the fate of the gods). After this a new, beautiful world rises where Baldr lives again and the earth sprouts abundance without sowing seed.

In LotR, Middle-earth was created by the Ainur (Valar). They were shown how the world would be created by Illúvatar (Eru) , rather like the seeress speaking to Odin of the creation of the world. The Valar set about creating Middle-earth, and once they were done, they experienced a "golden age" which was effectively destroyed by Melkor, later known as Morgoth Bauglir (this has some fun parallels with Völuspá!). However, Melkor ran away and the Valar could not find him, so they instead recreated the world and left Middle-earth, choosing instead to stay in Valinor. While in Valinor, Aulë the Smith became inpatient waiting for the Elves to be created, and created the Dwarves. But because they were not supposed to be the first children, the Dwarves were put to sleep until the Elves were born.

While in Valinor, it was decided that there needed to be some form of light. At first there were the lamps, which were destroyed by Melkor. So they created the Two Trees, Laurelin and Telperion. However, these trees were destroyed by Ungoliant, forerunner to Shelob. In the end, only one flower from each tree was saved. So, the Sun was created by Laurelin's flower, and the flower from Telperion was made into the Moon, thus establishing order in the cosmos (like how the Æsir created the sun, moon, and stars).

Afterwards, Melkor continued to cause trouble for the Valar. Sauron, one of the Maiar, was his lieutenant. However, he was eventually defeated and locked away beyond the Door of Night. It is said that at the End Time, he will return and battle the Valar, Elves, and Men, rather like Ragnarök.