FOREFATHER LYRICS

1. Cometh The King

[Instrumental]

2. Last Of The Line

Man your walls or flee, for this time we pay no fee
Hear our last reply; may you answer with no retreat
Bow your heads down low for the rule of the marshland king
Stir the land awake for a tale the bards will sing

See the storm rise across the sea
Raven curse come to harry our shores
They will not see the English flee

Rally with your king from the isle of sanctuary
Sons of Wessex fly! To secure our history
Send the heralds forth for our loyalties to bind
Righteous laws I vow for the sake of all our kind

See the storm rise across the sea
Raven curse come to harry our shoes
They will not see the English flee
Rise the great you are duty bound
Grand defender, the bane of the Danes
Turn the tidings at Ethandune

Foolish is he who shuns understanding,
forsaking his task in this world
Longing to reach the true honorable life,
leave my memory in noble works

See the storm rise across the sea
Raven curse come to harry our shoes
They will not see the English flee
Rise the great you are duty bound
Grand defender, the bane of the Danes
Spread the tidings of Ethandune

3. Chorus Of Steel

Behold the swarming horde below
Strengthen your resolve
Grip your steel with growing faith
Foresee the fray unfold
Banners fly defiantly
The totems of the tribe
Stubborn pride swells inside
The calm before the storm

An awe-inspiring sight
A bold display of might
The zeal we wield will drive the enemy from the field
A seething wall of rage
A host of souls ablaze
The power that flows will smash the spirit of the hated foe

The downpour of arrows and chorus of steel
The pounding clamour of board on shield
Shoulder to shoulder on sacred soil
Smouldering passions ready to boil
Thriving on fury, driven to kill
Aggression sustained by unshakeable will
Pillars of prowess, forever to stand
Till the steel should fall from our cold, dead hands

Morning light defines the lines
The thirst for combat builds
Dreams of fame and lofty deeds
And oaths to be fulfilled
Weapons drum their doomful beat
The sound of iron on lind
A final boast and fervent cry
And then the strife begins

Sworn to duty till the whirlwind wanes
To toil and sweat until the sun descends
We'll leave their dead beneath a blackened sky
And hail the gods that we endure and abide

4. By Thy Deeds

Embers in dormancy - the greatest of sins
Damming the blood that flows, closing the veins
Drowning in lethargy, deadly decay
Losing vitality, fading away

Deep-seated malady holds you in chains
Taking its root from the seed that you have
Sucking the life from you, rusting your blade
Arresting your will on the orders you bade

By thy deeds
Kindling flames
Sowing seeds
By thy deeds
Sounding the strings

Avowing your sovereignty, making your waves
Marking you out from the mass of the slaves
Claiming your land, truth to proclaim
Repay the gift with the exploits of fame

5. Up High

Up high, so high I climb
To grand open worlds beyond, my mind foresees
His call resounds
The darkened wings of the raven beat, he follows me
The sun is burning bright
The radiance shines upon my humble feet
This slender path excites
With every twist adrift along my way

Far below, the lake is shimmering
Crystal water seems to gleam
Too far above to hear the trickling over stone through vale to stream
Alone atop the peak
The air is still, the purest yet to breathe
From here afar I see
And still the blackened wings are haunting me

6. Wolves Of Prayer

Over the sea, the Black and the Fair
On heathen soil to moor
Heaven's breath rife in the sails
Bound for Saxon shore
Clutching close the lore of their god
Emissaries of the light
Sworn to inspire the primitive lords
And sway their steadfast tribes

Ward the groves and shrines
Thwart their foul designs

Seeds of destruction are blighting the land
We must face them united, extinguish the flames
Till the rivers are stained with their treacherous blood
And the menace is withered and waned

Shackled tight, with dogma entwined, loyalty misplaced
Fellow men damned to hell, inborn ideas debased
Liturgies made with relics ordained, fostering distrust
That word may reach the halls of power and allied minds be lost

Wolves of prayer with zealous schemes
Are stalking our domains
Pledged to bend our masters' ears
And claim them for their faith
Guardians of the native rites
Suspicious minds decree
With haste to seize these furtive fiends
Lest the winds of change proceed

7. Wyrda Gesceaft

Ongietan sceal gléaw hæle
hú gǽstlic bið
þonne ealre þisse worulde wela
wéste stondeð

Wóriað þá wínsalo
waldend liegað dréame bidrorene
duguþ eal gecrong

Eall is earfoðlic eorþan ríce,
onwendeð wyrda gesceaft
hér bið mon lǽne
hér bið mǽg lǽne
ídel weorþeð þis eorþ!

8. Doomsday Dawns

Doom is awaiting with fire and pain
Plague is upon us and here to remain
Gods or grave rite bring no cure to this blight
Forfeit is land and the sea

Sanctuaries are plundered, the just are despised
Turning our faces from wisdom and pride
Ashamed of the good but exult in misdeeds
Victory-less indignity

And we are not ashamed

Denouncing allegiance, our bonds are betrayed
Contriving our laws from our lust
Forsaking our care by the word and the deed
Thus we have earned our deserts

Awaiting the fall

So alas for the misery
And alas for the great disgrace
Now we're facing the arrows of truth
Let us ride out, heading for death
Winter will summon us all

False-hearted tricksters and high-ranking thieves
Treason and lawlessness spread like disease
The noble stand silent while evil succeeds
Burdened with death's final toll

And thus my friends I beg of you
To hear this sombre plea
To stand your ground through hopelessness and cold adversity
To bow to justice, make amends with harsh reality
Or chose to take the mountain road
Forever doomed to flee
Lest we perish forever

This is the end

9. Shadows Of The Dead

The heart hangs heavy of a warrior overcome
Twigs break beneath my feet as I make the long way home
When the time for duty came the fear was clear in their eyes
Their painful howls will ring when they see just I survive
My kinsmen lay behind me, prostrate in open graves
Cold and still, bereft of life, the field-of-slaughter's prey
As daylight wanes and birdsong fades I ponder what befell
Laid back on my bed of leaves I curse that I still dwell

Shadows of the dead bathe the field at sunset
Echoes of the slain haunt the dawn at daybreak

As dawn's embrace approaches and breaks my somber dreams
I call to mind our falling flag, my brethren's final screams
The harrowing sounds of conquest still pierce my troubled soul
As bent beneath the weight of grief I grimly wander on

Some are born to thrive, others doomed to die
As fate decrees, the threads proclaim
The path an arrow flies, a spear-thrust parried or true
A kingdom saved, or a tribe enslaved
The web that wyrd will weave, the outcome fortune deems
Joys unbound, or a burial mound
Courage that lasts or fails, the wind on hostile sails
Sorrow's tears or blissful cheers

10. Spears Of Faith

Ye who seek my downfall, fingers locked in prayer, know my raging steel!
Though your hands be empty, god's will is your blade
I will slay you swiftly

Wails on the wind, striking at my soul
Swaying the threads of my fate
Their cowardly cries inspire my vengeance
Hope sundered, icons smashed

With your incantations you hurls spears of faith, slyly plot against me
In your pious raiment, virtue is your mail
But there's no salvation

Those who dare to hinder the lord of Degsa's stone
My ruthlessness will mute their whispered pleas
Hopelessly beseeching behind a feckless shield
Heaven's grace shall offer no reprieve

11. The Downfallen

Out of the sea, the isle of kings
For those followers just and true
Sturdy captains of the spray
Beneath the great pillar's view
But wayward words can bewitch and bend
Forge an ignoble fate
Warp and deceive the purest of wills
Send a land to a watery grave

Cold wind and pouring rain
Smashes the beams as we fight the raging sea
Cold wind and pouring rain
Harries the sails as we flee the sacred isle

Fallen lords ever clinging to life
In chambers rich enshrined
Allegiance lent to malignant power
Black prayers and sacrifice
Lured to assail the undying lands
A voyage of ruinous doom
With sorry hearts the faithful fly
And a seed of the white tree's bloom

Fram ðǽm gréatan sǽ tó middangearde ic eom cumen
Hér ic wunie, and mín eaforan, oð worulde ende

12. Into The Rising Sun

[Instrumental]








FOREFATHER LYRICS