Hail, The Victorious Dead! (The Saga of Harald Two-Axes)

[Style: Epic, relentless. The chorus slams in after every verse like a shield-wall heartbeat. No pause, no mercy.] [Intro – Low horn, oars in water, distant thunder] (Whispered) Forty keels… one will not return. [Verse 1 – Slow, brooding] Black sails crawl across the iron sea The shore waits white with foreign fear We beach the dragons, teeth to the sand And taste the coming reaper near [Chorus – Full gang roar, drums kick in hard] HAIL! THE VICTORIOUS DEAD! WHO WALK BEFORE THE LIVING BREED! HAIL! THE VICTORIOUS DEAD! THEY PLANT THE FUTURE WHEN WE BLEED! SKOL TO THE ONES WHO NEVER FLED! HAIL! THE VICTORIOUS DEAD! [Verse 2 – Faster, marching into gallop] Shields lock, raven banner snaps alive Spears rain like winter’s cruelst hail Steel answers steel in screaming tongues The earth drinks deep and does not fail [Chorus – Louder, boots stomping rafters] HAIL! THE VICTORIOUS DEAD! WHO STAND WHEN THE LIVING START TO BREAK! HAIL! THE VICTORIOUS DEAD! THEY HOLD THE LINE WE CAN’T REMAKE! SKOL TO THE ONES THE GODS HAVE FED! HAIL! THE VICTORIOUS DEAD! [Verse 3 – Sudden drop, voices crack] Their numbers pour like endless night The wall bends back, brothers fall For the first time the wolf knows flight And the sea behind us mocks us all [Chorus – Desperate, snarling, defiant] HAIL! THE VICTORIOUS DEAD! WHO NEVER LEARNED THE WORD RETREAT! HAIL! THE VICTORIOUS DEAD! THEY TEACH THE COWARD HOW TO BLEED! SKOL TO THE ONES WHO PAID THE DEBT! HAIL! THE VICTORIOUS DEAD! [Verse 4 – One lone voice, then the storm] Harald Two-Axes steps from the line Scar like a canyon, grin like the moon He laughs at the spears, he laughs at the gods And charges alone into certain doom [Chorus – Full battle fury, guitars climb] HAIL! THE VICTORIOUS DEAD! HE CARVES THE PATH WE DARE TO TREAD! HAIL! THE VICTORIOUS DEAD! HIS BLOOD AWAKENS WHAT WAS DEAD! SKOL TO THE ONE WHO LEADS AHEAD! HAIL! THE VICTORIOUS DEAD! [Verse 5 – Blast beats, total war] We follow the red road he opened wide Through broken mail and broken prayer Their center cracks, their courage dies The raven screams above the slaughter there [Chorus – Triumphant, sky-splitting] HAIL! THE VICTORIOUS DEAD! THE FIELD IS OURS, THE DAY IS WON! HAIL! THE VICTORIOUS DEAD! THEY FINISHED WHAT WE’D BEGUN! SKOL TO THE ONES BENEATH THE SUN! HAIL! THE VICTORIOUS DEAD! [Verse 6 – Slow, heavy, crushing] Silence falls like winter snow Harald lies still, two axes crossed The greatest of us paid the cost So the rest of us could grow old [Final Chorus – First triumphant, then broken, voices cracking] HAIL… THE VICTORIOUS DEAD! THEY BOUGHT OUR LIVES WITH THEIR LAST BREATH! HAIL… THE VICTORIOUS DEAD! THEY SMILE AT US FROM BEYOND DEATH! SKOL… SKOL… Hail… the victorious dead. [Outro – Tagelharpa alone, one low note held until it dies] Thirty-nine keels turn for home. One burns on the water, carrying him alone. And every night, in every hall, forever: Hail. The victorious dead.