Jǫfurr heyri upphaf
— ofrask mun konungs lof —
— hôttu nemi hann rétt
hróðrs míns — bragar síns.
Heyri jǫfurr upphaf bragar síns; lof konungs mun ofrask; nemi hann rétt hôttu hróðrs míns.
May the prince hear the beginning of his poem; the king’s praise will be raised; may he note correctly the forms of my panegyric.
[3] hôttu ‘the forms’: This is the acc. pl. of the noun háttr ‘manner, verse-form, metre’ (as in the title of Háttatal ‘Enumeration of verse-forms’). It seems to be used here as a technical term, self-consciously drawing attention to the poem that will follow – especially, perhaps, in terms of its metrical aspects, as this seems to be the first recorded use of hálfhnept for a royal encomium. Cf. Óttarr’s opening stanza to his Hfl for Óláfr Haraldsson (Ótt Hfl 1/1I).