Hlýði! Hapta beiðis
hefk mildinga gildi;
því biðjum vér þagnar,
þegna tjón at fregnum.
Hlýði! Hefk gildi beiðis hapta mildinga; því biðjum vér þagnar, at fregnum tjón þegna.
Listen! I begin the banquet of the ruler of the gods [= Óðinn > POETRY] of princes; we [I] ask for silence because we [I] have heard of the loss of the man.
[2] hefk ‘I begin’: Probably 1st pers. sg. pres. indic. of hefja ‘I raise, begin’ rather than the identical form from hafa ‘have’, as Kock notes (NN §2745).