Here I am : enemies : come and taste the steel of my sword

the earth was still young and the land all new when it was forged

ore of themountain towering wowards endless sky

the runes down its blade the last thing you will see before you die



In the spring we sailed from Asa Bay with wind and tide

twenty-nine in all we were : bloodbrothers side by side

down foreign coasts : across the ocean : wind would fill our sail

high adventures : better to fall by the sword than to die from age or ail



The emperor I served in Miklagard : grand guard was I

me and my brothers in gold were paid : on my sword I did rely

returning to Nordland by horse : ambushed were we

and so here I am : come enemies : cornered with my back to the sea



The ground beneath our feet all red awash with human blood

severed limbs and bodies dead : prepare to meet thy God

shoulder by shoulder : knee by knee : bloodbrothers by my side

forgive me mother for missing the unseen blow that cut me down from behind



All still : no more pain : the wind whispering my name

this wound my last : the darkness around me seems vast

Then a bright light I see : the clouds swirl and part before me

in the distance a woman approaching : with a gesture she invites me to proceed



Then a bronze horn I hear : it calls me : and the bridge seems to stretch for a lifetime

way before me a palace is rising : out of the mist : like a mountain it stands

And it greets me with gates open wide : all around me bloodbrothers by my side

and they show me the seat that bears my name : my place at the table of Oden I do claim