The Last Stand at Thornwood Ford

Verse 1 The war-horns howled on the northern crest, The sky turned iron, the stars stood pressed, A thousand boots made the black earth quake, And the river shuddered in its bed awake. But we held the ford where the thornwoods grow, With iron hearts and a longer row. Chorus Hey! Verily the ford ran red, Hey! but the thorns stood tall! We sang the green song over the dead, And the wild earth answered our call! For root and river, for leaf and loam, We fought till the night-winds carried us home! Verse 2 They rolled like winter, they rolled like flood, Black banners thirsty for fire and blood. Their warlord bellowed like a storm-torn tree, But our shafts sang back from bank and lea. We locked our shields where the dark water foams, Shoulder to shoulder, sworn brothers in arms. Chorus Hey! Verily the ford ran red, Hey! but the thorns stood tall! We sang the green song over the dead, And the wild earth answered our call! For root and river, for leaf and loam, We fought till the night-winds carried us home! Verse 3 I saw the champion leap the wave, Fierce as the lightning the tempest gave, Spear like a whirlwind, shield like the moon, Voice raising high the old thornwood tune. The foe-line shattered where the blackthorns sway, And the river itself turned killer that day. Chorus Hey! Verily the ford ran red, Hey! but the thorns stood contato tall! We sang the green song over the dead, And the wild earth answered our call! For root and river, for leaf and loam, We fought till the night-winds carried us home! Verse 4 We carved their ranks where the shallows roar, We drove them broken to the farther shore. Hawk and raven wheeled overhead— The sky itself struck for the living and dead. When dawn bled gold on the water’s brim, Only the living stood up to sing. Final Chorus Hey! Verily the ford ran red that day, Hey! but the thorns stood tall! We sang the green song over the slain, And the wild earth answered our call! For root and river, for leaf and loam, We fought till the morning carried us home! Last shout So raise the horn to the ones who stood, Who paid the price of the thornwood blood! The Stand at Thornwood Ford will be told Till the last black thorn falls red and cold! Hey! Hey! For the wild, for the wild, for the wild!