Intro
(Hamðismál! Hamðismál!)
She woke us with grief louder than the war-horn...
(Hu-ha!) Svanhildr — hooves — the last bloodline torn —
Guðrún weeping over what the gold had sworn —
(Hamðismál!) We rode knowing we would not see the dawn...
Verse 1 — Guðrún
I have buried more than any woman living —
Sigurðr — then my brothers — no forgiving —
Atli's hall burned — that was my giving
Of every debt the gold curse kept delivering.
But Svanhildr — last child — Sigurðr's daughter — golden —
Hair like the sun before the age had olden —
Jörmunrekkr's horses left her field-cold, frozen —
Bikki's lie — the last thing I was owed one.
I walked into my sons' room before the grey broke —
Laid the grief on them before a single word spoke —
Shook the shields above their beds till the hall-roof shook —
Said: your sister's in the ground — go — that's the outlook.
They knew the armor — iron-sewn — the making —
They knew what Jörmunrekkr's hall was taking —
They looked at me with Sigurðr's eyes — unbreaking —
And rode south into the dark without forsaking.
Pre-Chorus — both
Hamðir: we killed Erpr on the road in anger —
(wrong choice...)
Guðrún: I heard it in my bones — the danger —
(knew it...)
Both: the third arm we needed — cut by our own rancor —
Andvari's curse still running — every link and anchor. (uh!)
Chorus — both
She woke us for a death we'd already accepted (already accepted!)
Iron on the body — blades deflected (blades deflected!)
Rode to Jörmunrekkr's hall — fully weaponed (fully weaponed!)
Hamðismál — the Völsung end perfected! (Hu-ha!)
Verse 2 — Hamðir
Sörli at my shoulder when we hit the courtyard —
Iron-sewn — no blade was finding our regard.
We moved through Jörmunrekkr's hall like the graveyard
Had sent us back with one instruction — hit hard.
I took the hands — both — at the wrist-joint clean —
Sörli took the feet — the blood between
The rushes on the floor — the king still screaming —
A limbless king on his throne — that's the intervening.
We had him — headless next — that was the ending —
But Erpr's hands weren't there — our own offending
On the road cost us — the third arm's lending
Would have closed the deal — one choice — and the un-mending.
An old man appeared — one eye in the firelight —
I knew him — we both knew — the Allfather's twilight
Trick: stone them — iron won't bite — and the night-right
Came down on us in rocks before the first light.
Sörli fell first — I caught him going under —
Held him while the stones came — felt the thunder
Of the last Völsung blood split asunder —
Said: we struck well — that's the only wonder.
Pre-Chorus — both
Hamðir: we killed Erpr on the road in anger —
(wrong choice...)
Guðrún: I heard it in my bones — the danger —
(knew it...)
Both: the third arm we needed — cut by our own rancor —
Andvari's curse still running — every link and anchor. (uh!)
Chorus — both
She woke us for a death we'd already accepted (already accepted!)
Iron on the body — blades deflected (blades deflected!)
Rode to Jörmunrekkr's hall — fully weaponed (fully weaponed!)
Hamðismál — the Völsung end perfected! (Hu-ha!)
Bridge — trading
Guðrún: I stood at the threshold of every loss the gold made —
(every loss...)
Sigurðr — brothers — daughter — sons — the gold's trade —
(all of them...)
Andvari cursed the metal and the bloodline paid —
(paid it all...)
I am the last one standing in the gold's cascade.
Hamðir: we knew at the gate what we were riding into —
(knew it cold...)
Sörli looked at me — the same eyes — see through —
(saw it clear...)
We didn't go for victory — we went to undo
The debt Svanhildr's trampling put us to.
Both: the hands and feet were enough — heads would've been more —
(would've been...)
Erpr would have taken the head — that's the sore —
(Erpr's hands...)
Three brothers — three strikes — instead of two — the floor
Of Jörmunrekkr's hall would've held one last score.
(Skál to Hamðir! Skál — he struck well in the end!)
(Skál to Guðrún! Skál — the last the gold condemned!)
Drop — Instrumental
Chorus — both
She woke us for a death we'd already accepted (already accepted!)
Iron on the body — blades deflected (blades deflected!)
Rode to Jörmunrekkr's hall — fully weaponed (fully weaponed!)
Hamðismál — the Völsung end perfected! (Hu-ha!)
Outro
(Hamðismál! Hamðismál!)
The stones came before the sun...
(Hu-ha!)
The last Völsung blood.
The gold is spent.
Sörli fell first.
I held him.
We struck well.
(That was enough
to close
the cycle.)
