0.1.6 [1] Te ergo, salutaris princeps ac parens noster, cuius illustrissimam a priscis temporibus prosapiam dicturus sum, clarissima lux patriae, Valdemare, dubium laboris huius progressum favore prosequi rogo: quia propositi pondere constrictus vereor, ne magis imperitiae meae habitum ingeniique debilitatem patefaciam quam tuam, sicut par est, originem repraesentem. [2] Siquidem praeter paternae hereditatis amplitudinem conspicua regni incrementa finitimorum oppressione sortitus Albiaeque reciprocos fluctus propagatae dominationis labore complexus, haud mediocre claritatis momentum celeberrimis laudis tuae titulis adiecisti.

(So, my gracious lord and father of us all, brilliant light of our country, Valdemar, whose illustrious descent from early times I shall be describing, I beg you to look kindly on the wavering course of this task; for I fear that I shall be shackled by the weight of my subject and, far from properly depicting your lineage, I shall only reveal my lack of aptitude and meagre talents. By remarkably enlarging the kingdom inherited from your father through subjugation of your neighbours, by encompassing in the toil of extensive conquest the ebbing and flowing waters of the Elbe, you have added no mean element of glory to the register of your fame.)