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.
[1] Hlýði: hlýddi Tˣ
[1] hlýði ‘listen’: This 3rd pers. sg./pl. pres. subj. verb functions as an imp., calling for a hearing and marking the helmingr as the conventional introduction to a poem, cf. Þhorn Harkv 1/1 Hlýði hringberendr ‘Let sword-bearers [WARRIORS] listen’. For it to occur without a subject is unusual; for a suggested emendation which supplies one, see Note to l. 2 mildinga.