Gleipnir

Intro

(The wolf! The wolf!)

They feared what I'd do — before I'd done it...

(Hu-ha!) Raised me in their halls — then they stunned it —

Bound me on an island — thought they'd won it —

(The wolf!) Ván flows from my jaw — hope runs from it...

Verse 1

Loki's blood in the marrow — Angrboða's bone-frame,

Born in Járnviðr where the iron-wood got its own name.

Gods took me to Ásgarðr — raised me in their home-game,

Fed me by hand till the hand-size wasn't the same.

Grew past the kennel — grew past the great hall ceiling,

Grew past the thing that the prophecy was revealing.

Saw it in their eyes — that particular feeling —

Not awe — not love — just the fear of what I'm dealing.

They tried Leyding first — I flexed and the chain shattered,

Drómi second — iron links — equally battered.

Third time came the ribbon — six things that never mattered:

Cat's step, mountain root, bear sinew — the impossible scattered.

I knew it was a trick — felt the wrongness in the weaving —

Said: put a hand in my mouth or I'm not believing.

One god willing — Tyr — without flinching or grieving —

I respect the hand he lost — no point in deceiving.

Pre-Chorus

Lyngvi island — Ámsvartnir black around the shore (around the shore)

Gleipnir soft as silk — but I can't move anymore.

Sword propped in my jaw since they walked through the door —

Ván drools from my mouth — the river named for what I'm waiting for. (uh!)

Chorus

They bound me for a future I hadn't made yet (hadn't made yet!)

Prophecy's a prison — I was caged in their headset (their headset!)

Gleipnir's thinning — every age pulls the thread-set (pulls the thread-set!)

The wolf breaks free — Allfather meets his deathbed! (Hu-ha!)

Verse 2

Tyr's hand in my mouth when the ribbon went tighter —

Felt the honesty in him — made the wound feel lighter.

He lost it clean — no flinch — couldn't be a fighter

More worthy of the bite than every other blighter.

I don't hate the one-hand god — he paid what he offered,

It's the ones who schemed the trap that left me coffered.

Odin on his high-seat — prophecy he authored —

Bound me for the futures that his ravens reported.

You fear what I'll become — so you make it certain —

Every chain you wrap around me pulls the curtain

Closer on the outcome that you tried to divert in —

The trap that binds the wolf is what makes Odin's hurt sting.

Ván keeps flowing — that's the joke of my imprisonment —

Named the river Hope — let that land in your amusement.

Every drop that falls is one more age's refinement —

One more season pulling Gleipnir toward misalignment.

Pre-Chorus

Lyngvi island — Ámsvartnir black around the shore (around the shore)

Gleipnir soft as silk — but I can't move anymore.

Sword propped in my jaw since they walked through the door —

Ván drools from my mouth — the river named for what I'm waiting for. (uh!)

Chorus

They bound me for a future I hadn't made yet (hadn't made yet!)

Prophecy's a prison — I was caged in their headset (their headset!)

Gleipnir's thinning — every age pulls the thread-set (pulls the thread-set!)

The wolf breaks free — Allfather meets his deathbed! (Hu-ha!)

Bridge

You want to know what patience actually costs?

(what does it cost?)

Not the years — it's everything you almost lost.

(not the years...)

Not the chain — it's knowing that you're right

(not the chain...)

And sitting still inside the wrong for every night.

I don't rage against the ribbon —

(don't rage...)

Every tremor that you've felt was me just breathing.

(just breathing...)

Every earthquake — me adjusting to the seething.

(adjusting...)

Fimbulwinter means the thread is barely weaving.

(barely weaving...)

When Gleipnir snaps — it won't be rage — it'll be

(Skál to the wolf! Skál — the patience of the bound!)

(The chain breaks clean when the last winter comes around!)

...inevitable.

Drop — Instrumental

Chorus

They bound me for a future I hadn't made yet (hadn't made yet!)

Prophecy's a prison — I was caged in their headset (their headset!)

Gleipnir's thinning — every age pulls the thread-set (pulls the thread-set!)

The wolf breaks free — Allfather meets his deathbed! (Hu-ha!)

Outro

(The wolf! The wolf!)

Ván still flows...

(Hu-ha!)

The river of hope

runs from my jaw.

Gleipnir's almost gone.

(It was always going to be this way.)