Intro
(Atlakviða! Atlakviða!)
He thought the gold would come without the cost...
(Hu-ha!) Sent the invitation — didn't count the loss —
Guðrún read the runes on the ring he tossed —
(Atlakviða!) The warning came — her brothers crossed...
Verse 1 — Guðrún
I had already lost the thing worth losing —
Sigurðr dead — his blood still on the choosing
Of my own kin — the mead-drink — the confusing
Of the gold's curse running through the bruising.
Then Atli sent the word — come feast, come brother —
Gunnarr, Högni — ride south — no bother.
I braided runes into the gift-ring's cover —
Wolf-hair woven through — read it, don't ignore her.
They read it wrong — or wouldn't let it land right —
Honor over warning — rode into the half-light.
I stood at Atli's wall and felt the planned slight —
Every smile in that gold hall was appetite.
I could not stop what the cursed gold was pulling —
Andvari's debt collecting — always culling —
I watched my brothers walk inside — the lulling
Of mead and fire — and the gate-lock's dulling.
Pre-Chorus — both
Gunnarr: they asked for the gold — I laughed in the asking —
Guðrún: I watched the doors close — no unmasking —
(the rune-ring thrown aside...)
Both: the curse of the Niflungar runs past the gold-stashing —
It runs through the blood of everyone it's clasping. (uh!)
Chorus — both
They took the brothers — thought they'd take the hoard (take the hoard!)
Guðrún sharpened something longer than a sword (than a sword!)
Gunnarr played the harp till the last serpent scored (serpent scored!)
Atlakviða — the gold debt gets restored! (Hu-ha!)
Verse 2 — Gunnarr
They cut Högni's heart out — he laughed while they were cutting —
Said: I always wondered — now I see it — nothing
Stops the Niflungar — not the blade, not the gutting —
He died with the laugh still on — I kept it running.
Pit of serpents — hands bound — no capitulating —
I called for the harp — Atli thought humiliating
Was the ask — he sent it — started calculating
What the broken man would play — miscalculating.
I played with my feet — bound — in the cold dark —
Every serpent circling to the strings' remark.
They stilled — the music held them — even in the stark
Of Atli's pit — I held the night — held the spark.
One old serpent — deaf — found my side before morning —
That's the one — I felt it — no mourning —
I'd sent no word of where the gold was storing —
Atli got nothing — that was my last outpouring.
Pre-Chorus — both
Gunnarr: they asked for the gold — I laughed in the asking —
Guðrún: I watched the doors close — no unmasking —
(the rune-ring thrown aside...)
Both: the curse of the Niflungar runs past the gold-stashing —
It runs through the blood of everyone it's clasping. (uh!)
Chorus — both
They took the brothers — thought they'd take the hoard (take the hoard!)
Guðrún sharpened something longer than a sword (than a sword!)
Gunnarr played the harp till the last serpent scored (serpent scored!)
Atlakviða — the gold debt gets restored! (Hu-ha!)
Bridge — trading
Guðrún: I set the table for the feast he'd been requesting —
(the feast...)
Gunnarr's death still fresh — the hall still cresting —
(still cresting...)
I carved the cups from what he'd been investing —
(from the sons...)
Atli drank his bloodline without questioning.
Gunnarr: I heard from Hel what she was doing after —
(she did it...)
The harp still ringing through the death-hall rafter —
(still rings...)
Every serpent-deaf note building to the chapter
Where a sister's grief becomes the gold's last laughter.
Both: She put the blade in Atli while he dreamed —
(in his sleep...)
Burned the gold hall — everything it seemed
(burned it all...)
The curse died in the fire — or so it gleamed —
(Skál to Guðrún! Skál — she paid what it redeemed!)
(The gold burned with the hall — Andvari's debt cleaned!)
Drop — Instrumental
Chorus — both
They took the brothers — thought they'd take the hoard (take the hoard!)
Guðrún sharpened something longer than a sword (than a sword!)
Gunnarr played the harp till the last serpent scored (serpent scored!)
Atlakviða — the gold debt gets restored! (Hu-ha!)
Outro
(Atlakviða! Atlakviða!)
The hall burned before dawn...
(Hu-ha!)
The gold burned with it.
The brothers paid.
Guðrún paid more.
Gunnarr played
until the last serpent
found him.
(That was enough
to take to Hel.)
