Tyr's Hand (Version 2)

Intro

(One hand! One hand!)

The wolf needed binding — nobody moved...

(Hu-ha!) I put my hand in the jaw — I had nothing to prove

Just the law of the worlds and the oath I approved —

(One hand!) The bravest thing costs what you can't afford to lose...

Verse 1

Before the Allfather schemed and before Loki lied,

Before the thunder rolled and before the serpent tied,

There was law in the void — something older inside —

A word given firm is the one thing that survived.

They call me the bravest — I call it the plainest:

If order needs a price then the cost falls on the greatest.

I presided at the Thing when the blood-feuds were ancientest,

Held the scales even when the pressure was the weightiest.

Tiwaz rune carved in the blade of every warrior-litigant,

Tuesday named for something more than battle-belligerent —

Named for the god who read the law and found it relevant

Even when the verdict meant his own hand was the ingredient.

I've faced the frost-giants and I've come back standing taller,

Not because I'm stronger — because my word is my collar.

Odin plots and Thor swings and Loki plays the caller —

I'm the one who holds the line when every line gets smaller.

Pre-Chorus

Gleipnir looked like ribbon — cat's-step, mountain's root (mountain's root)

Woman's beard and bear's sinew, bird's spit absolute.

Fenrir wouldn't take it without a hand in the suit —

Every god stepped back — I stepped up to the brute. (uh!)

Chorus

Hand in the jaw — I don't flinch, I don't fold (don't fold!)

Law above the body — that's the oldest code told (code told!)

Fenrir bit the wrist clean through the bone cold (bone cold!)

One hand fed to chaos — every world stays whole! (Hu-ha!)

Verse 2

You think I mourn it? — Let me set your thinking straight:

A hand that binds the wolf is worth more than its weight.

I don't swing Mjölnir — I was never built to break —

I was built to hold the structure when the structure starts to shake.

Left-handed at the Thing now — still the first to stand,

Still the one the jarls bring when the law needs a hand.

Every warrior marks the tiwaz rune — you understand

That every blade they raise was pledged by my command.

Garm waits at Gnipahellir for the chain to release,

The hound of Hel will meet me when the worlds find no peace.

I know I kill the hound and the hound ends my lease —

I've known it since the binding — doesn't make me decrease.

That's the law of the cosmos written under the frost:

Every axis that holds has already been the cost.

Odin loses an eye — I lose a hand — we all exhaust

Whatever the worlds need — the toll is never glossed.

Pre-Chorus

Gleipnir looked like ribbon — cat's-step, mountain's root (mountain's root)

Woman's beard and bear's sinew, bird's spit absolute.

Fenrir wouldn't take it without a hand in the suit —

Every god stepped back — I stepped up to the brute. (uh!)

Chorus

Hand in the jaw — I don't flinch, I don't fold (don't fold!)

Law above the body — that's the oldest code told (code told!)

Fenrir bit the wrist clean through the bone cold (bone cold!)

One hand fed to chaos — every world stays whole! (Hu-ha!)

Bridge

You want to know what courage actually is?

(tell us...)

It's not the sword-arm wild in the battle-fizz.

(not the sword...)

It's the moment that you see the jaw come wide —

(the jaw...)

And you hold the hand still — nothing left to hide.

No shield wall, no horn blown, no gang to ride —

Just the wolf, the ribbon, and the law inside.

Fenrir looked me in the only eye I showed —

(the eye...)

I looked back and held the oath until it closed.

(held it...)

The worlds are still standing. Count the cost.

(Skál to the hand! Skál — worth every loss!)

(Law above the body — that's the oldest code crossed!)

Drop — Instrumental

Chorus

Hand in the jaw — I don't flinch, I don't fold (don't fold!)

Law above the body — that's the oldest code told (code told!)

Fenrir bit the wrist clean through the bone cold (bone cold!)

One hand fed to chaos — every world stays whole! (Hu-ha!)

Outro

(One hand! One hand!)

The wolf is still bound...

(Hu-ha!)

The law holds the ground.

Ragnarök comes —

I already know the sound.

(Skál.)