Varangian Gold (Version 2)

Verse

Steel-rimmed crown pulled tight against my brow

Kievan frostbite carved a shape I know now

Yaroslav's scar is the only law I trust

Every battle scar is the coin we invest

I don't speak the tongue of the throne I've won

Just the rusted weight of every sword I've sung

Constantinople paid me in cold, hard light

Learned to walk a mile without one single fight

Pre-Chorus

So what's a man do when every border he crossed

Turns to ash the moment before the gold is lost

What's a king for if the crown just wears thin

I was raised on battle — I'll never let it in

Chorus

Let it burn like Varangian gold

No throne worth bleeding for can ever hold

Every kingdom built on blood and stone

Fades to dust before you're left alone

So I keep the fire instead of the crown

Burn bright then burn down, that's how legends drown

Verse

Northumbrian frostbite cracked my knucklebone

Godwinson's banner torn where Harald's blade was shown

Stamford Bridge taught me what a bridge can do

One arrow through the throat — and nothing left to prove

I never chased a crown I'd just end up wearing

Every Varangian sword was sharpened for tearing

England fell in September, Norway still did stand

I walked out of York with empty hands

Pre-Chorus

So what's a man do when every border he crossed

Turns to ash the moment before the gold is lost

What's a king for if the crown just wears thin

I was raised on battle — I'll never let it in

Chorus

Let it burn like Varangian gold

No throne worth bleeding for can ever hold

Every kingdom built on blood and stone

Fades to dust before you're left alone

So I keep the fire instead of the crown

Burn bright then burn down, that's how legends drown

Bridge

Maybe honor is just a word you trade

A shield wall broken for a throne turned lame

I've held every line from Kiev to Kent

Every crown dissolved like morning rain

I'll not leave my name inside a mold

Carved in bloodstone — let it tell the truth instead of gold

Chorus

Let it burn like Varangian gold

No throne worth bleeding for can ever hold

Every kingdom built on blood and stone

Fades to dust before you're left alone

So I keep the fire instead of the crown

Burn bright then burn down, that's how legends drown