The Valkyrie's Choice

Intro

(Choosers! Choosers!)

You fought so hard — and we were already there...

(Hu-ha!) Before the first blow landed in the air —

We knew the name, the moment — who would clear —

(Choosers!) The Valkyrie was watching — that's the nightmare...

Verse 1

Skögul rides the storm-front — that's my station —

Göndul at the shield-wall — left flank — calculation.

Hildr, Geirönul, Randgríðr — full formation —

We cross the battle-field before the opening.

We don't choose at random — that's the misconception —

The Allfather gives the list — we work the section.

This one lives — that one falls — no exception —

The outcome's set before the first horn's inflection.

I've stood above the berserker when the rage took hold —

Watched the bear-shirt fall — he earned the cold.

I've stood above the blood-feud man pursuing old

Vendetta — let him finish — marked him — told.

I stood above Harald when the arrow found the throat —

Already had his name inside my coat.

He looked like he knew — that particular note

Of recognition — yes — that's what I wrote.

Pre-Chorus

We move through the carnage while the living run and scatter (run and scatter)

Our horses' hooves above the gore-field — nothing matters

But the name, the wound, the moment — nothing flatter —

The chooser's hand is the only thing that shatters. (uh!)

Chorus

We chose before you drew your final breath (final breath!)

No warrior falls without the Valkyrie's death-select (death-select!)

We carry you to Valhöll or we let you stay (let you stay!)

The choosing happened — nothing overturns our say! (Hu-ha!)

Verse 2

You think the glory of the shield-wall is the warrior's earning?

The glory only lands on those the Allfather's discerning

Through our eyes — we are his sight — his battlefield's returning

Intelligence — his harvest from the dying and the burning.

We've ridden every battle in this series from the shoulder —

The longship raid — we watched — grew one fighter bolder.

The Fimbulwinter kin-slaughter — the cold grew colder —

We picked from frozen bodies — each name on the folder.

I stood at Stamford Bridge in the September grey-light —

Harald fell mid-sentence — I was there that daylight.

I've walked Vígríðr's hundred leagues in pre-dawn firelight —

Already choosing einherjar before Surtr's blade-strike.

The draugr refused me — that one stings the cleanest —

Three nights I stood above his mound — my patience meanest —

He looked me in the eye and chose the dark — the keenest

Refusal I've received — the will that ran the deepest.

Pre-Chorus

We move through the carnage while the living run and scatter (run and scatter)

Our horses' hooves above the gore-field — nothing matters

But the name, the wound, the moment — nothing flatter —

The chooser's hand is the only thing that shatters. (uh!)

Chorus

We chose before you drew your final breath (final breath!)

No warrior falls without the Valkyrie's death-select (death-select!)

We carry you to Valhöll or we let you stay (let you stay!)

The choosing happened — nothing overturns our say! (Hu-ha!)

Bridge

You want to know what the choosing actually feels like?

(what does it feel like?)

Not power — power is the sword's one-night spike.

(not power...)

Not judgment — judgment has appeal and daylight.

(not judgment...)

It's closer to the Norns — the thread already tight.

We don't choose freely — that's the thing they never tell you —

(never tell...)

The list comes down from Hliðskjálf — we compel through

(the list...)

Every battlefield — delivering the Allfather's value —

(his value...)

The choosing was already chosen — we just fell to.

We carried every warrior in this series —

(every one...)

The berserker to Valhöll — no inquiries —

(no questions...)

The blood-feud man who paid his debts — no mysteries —

(paid his debt...)

We carried them all — that's thirty-three histories.

Ragnarök — we rode —

(rode out...)

Chose from gods and einherjar in the same motion —

(gods and men...)

The Allfather fell to Fenrir — my devotion

(Odin fell...)

Held — I circled once — then crossed the ocean.

New world — new battles — we are still riding —

(still riding...)

The choosing never stops — always providing —

(never stops...)

New names on the list — new wounds — new deciding —

(Skál to the choosers! Skál — the slain kept arriving!)

(Valkyries ride every war — the dead keep thriving!)

Drop — Instrumental

Chorus

We chose before you drew your final breath (final breath!)

No warrior falls without the Valkyrie's death-select (death-select!)

We carry you to Valhöll or we let you stay (let you stay!)

The choosing happened — nothing overturns our say! (Hu-ha!)

Outro

(Choosers! Choosers!)

The new world has battlefields too...

(Hu-ha!)

New names.

New wounds.

We were above every song

in this series.

You just couldn't see us.

(We were always

already there.)