it is not known when alvíssmál was created; analysis of its contents can point to multiple periods depending on which elements are focused upon. one theory is that the use of thor and references to mythical beings can be assumed to reflect the culture's religious beliefs, so it would have been created no later than the 10th century before iceland was christianized. another points to the presence of words found only in late skaldic poetry, which would indicate that it came from the 12th-century skaldic poetry revival.