BRETWALDAS OF HEATHEN DOOM LYRICS

1. Haunted Ride

No time for grief’s lamenting chorus
Bodies of men scythed down like wheat
As javelins slam into the hillside
Black pounding hearts keep up their murderous beat

In winter’s broad dominion
The fetters burst, the haunted ride
A warning for the living
Unending rage of those who died

No faltering, no hesitation
The raven banner leads our force
A restless day among the living
A restless night beneath the gorse

2. Paths Of River Root And Stone

All, save the stirring words for darkest hour of night
When spectres scream upon the wind
And all who bar the gate lie riven in the dust
To no more avail, the ancient gifts of kings may rust

I do not fear death
I know the lots were carved and have been thrown
Acknowledge destiny
It takes the path of river, root and stone

The thrones of kings are smashed and heirlooms cast aside
…fools have scrabbled for our gold
The air is fouled and all that gushes forth a bitter broth
Destruction of supernature in a storm of wrath

The winter sun is blotted out the sky turns black
And howls of shamen fill the air
Odinnic brotherhood, the army of the slain
Shape-shifting madmen calling down an iron rain.

[Wartooth / Acwealde December 2003]

3. Ship Of Nails

They will come on the chaos winds
To raise the fallen when the killing begins
Hear their horns, hear the armour clash
See their eyes in the lightning flash

Know their purpose if they come for you
To swell the ranks of great Odin’s few
When the winter does not end
These are the emissaries he will send

This is the gathering of the Einherjar
Brought together in Valhalla
Led by the wolf and the carrion crow
Torrents of blood will be running below.

There will be fighting in the days before
An age of weapons and an age of war
The skies will echo to spear and sword
Axe and shield before the Battle-Lord

You will be paid in the halls of Asgard
Before the horn of the Watcher is heard
Will you live up to your mead-fuelled boasts?
Or will you flee before the demon hosts?..

4. A Thousand Blackened Whispers

As a shard of failing memory sought shadows in the mist
Hooded figures standing silent
Men who no longer exist
Heed the beacons’ warning,
Murmurs on the winds and waves
As the figures sinking slowly
Back into their ancient graves
A thousand blackened whispers
Creeping from the marsh and mire
In a language now archaic
From a time of blood and fire
Realities of ice and darkness
Moulding every mortal span
As a cold wind stirs the ashes
Ground down from the bones of man.

5. Iron Skies

Beneath the iron skies of war
Before called to the Valgrind door
A world of worms no more no less
Whose numbers increase as times progress
In forest fastness and hollow dale
Gather strength for others to prevail
Within the marshlands and woods forgot
Where many falter but some do not

Wisdom sought from those who read the signs
Interpret omens, by runes divine
Observe the heavens or cast the bones
See dark portents, hear forests’ moans
As the cold stone absorbs sun’s heat
See the waker withdraw from sleep
The golden promise of the Northern dawn
Foreshadows thunder as our blades are drawn

6. Old Walls, Wild Woods

Beneath the spreading boughs of ages
In defence of time
Remnants stand, of battered armies
Sprung from Woden’s line
For the words of the serpent’s tongue
We paid a bitter price
Now behold the dawn’s first rays
On fields of broken ice

Within old walls, and wild woods
Where the fallen leaves lie deep
The icy grip, of deepest winter
Shakes off a thousand years of sleep
And when it falls, the blood of ancients
To lie in pools upon the soil
It’s strength will be our victory
Through wisdom
Through war
Through toil.

7. Beneath The Eaves

I pledge my sword to those now gone
An oath of flame to burn them on
Dark fire to cleanse your mortal wounds
Dark ice to score my blackened runes

Before men stir beneath the eaves
And laughing voices turn to screams
When sun is set and lights grow dim
When sword blows smash on shields rim

I pledge my sword to those unborn
For in this future of this I'm sure
A coming struggle, a future war
The rise of chaos, the fall of law

Before men stir beneath the eaves
And laughing voices turn to screams
When sun is set and lights grow dim
When sword blows smash on shields rim

A thunderbolt will scorch the land
To stand or fall is in your hands
The wolves of Midgard are baying loud
It's time to ride them down

8. Hwicce Fif Ans

In my many winters upon this wet & windswept coast
I’ve seen kinsmen live and die
So to those left I raise a toast

As we drink by torchlight
In high-gabled hallowed halls
The boasts of fallen men still echo round these oaken walls

Though our tribes diminish
Though our numbers fade
Our helms still dark, our mail bright, our fists alive with blades

Follow the path of eagles
As they fly to worlds on high
So the souls of fallen men will travel when they die

The oaths of Northern folk are borne upon the gale
They do not die away but rise by fellows’ hail!

A pathway between the realms
So the web is spun
Time, place, mortality and deeds that have been done

In the glare of sunset
As my time draws near
A will of graven stone remains
Though earthly forms may disappear

Grim-faced men in iron helms
Through their gritted teeth deny
When strength is drawn from other realms
Their creed could ever die

Embers burn within our souls
Standards hefted to the sky
Elements no-one controls…
The darkest bird is yet to fly

[Wartooth / Acwealde October 2003]

9. Blood Of Gods And Men

After the earth is sated
By the blood of gods and men
Demon howls no longer rend the air
When the roar of distant battle
Dies away on gusting winds
Let the wolves and ravens take their share

When the best of Odin' hearth troops
Gathered from the northern lands
Warrior kinsmen those who never yield
All beserks and saga heroes
Once within the golden hall
Now lie in crimson heaps upon the field

Soon the rain will wash the corpses
Bitter winds will scour the field
And the leaves will bleach in summer's rule
Mankind best again have fallen
From the ashes none shall rise
For the final blaze consumes us all

From the ashes none shall rise
From the ashes none shall rise
From the ashes none shall rise
From the ashes none shall rise







BRETWALDAS OF HEATHEN DOOM LYRICS