Ratatoskr

Intro

(Ratatoskr! Ratatoskr!)

You talked — I carried it — and added just a little...

(Hu-ha!) Crown to root, root to crown — I run the middle —

Every secret in the nine worlds — I'm the riddle —

(Ratatoskr!) The squirrel holds the cosmos by the fiddle...

Verse 1

Eagle in the crown — nameless — old and furious —

Níðhöggr at the root — ancient — always serious —

And me between them — small — apparently mysterious —

Running every insult till the feud gets delirious.

Eagle said: the serpent is a coward in the dark —

I ran it down nine levels through the bark —

Added: said your mother was Hvergelmir's murk —

Níðhöggr's jaw went tight — felt the whole tree jerk.

Serpent said: the eagle is a scavenger — no vision —

I ran it back up ninety thousand feet — revision:

Said he called your crown a roost for the indecision

Of a bird too old to know he's lost his own position.

Eagle's feathers ruffled — Veðrfölnir between his eyes

Went still the way the hawk does before something dies.

That's the art — the carrier who amplifies —

The message I deliver doubles every time it flies.

Pre-Chorus

I've run this route since before the gods named the tree (named the tree)

Passed Odin hanging — he looked right through me.

The Norns never looked up — too busy — couldn't see —

The fastest thing on Yggdrasil has always been free. (uh!)

Chorus

Crown to root — root to crown — I run it all (run it all!)

Every word gets heavier each time I make the call (make the call!)

Ratatoskr knows what happens when the mighty fall (mighty fall!)

The squirrel in the middle hears it all! (Hu-ha!)

Verse 2

I've heard the Allfather mutter in the small hours —

Passed Heimdallr's watch — noted the patrol hours —

Heard the Norns discuss the threads in low-voice powers —

Ran past Mímir's well — caught the echo of the drowned.

I heard Loki scheme before the hall discovered —

I heard Frigg weep the night the mistletoe was hovered —

I heard Baldr tell his dreams before they were uncovered —

I ran straight past them all — nothing I've recovered.

That's the code of the carrier — what you hear you carry —

What you carry you adjust to make the landing scary.

Not lies — the truth just needs an edge to make it vary —

One word swapped mid-descent — the whole thing gets contrary.

Every god who ever thought their hall was soundproofed —

Every king who thought his plans were thunder-roofed —

Every warrior whose confession went unloosed —

The bark has ears — and I was all of them produced.

Pre-Chorus

I've run this route since before the gods named the tree (named the tree)

Passed Odin hanging — he looked right through me.

The Norns never looked up — too busy — couldn't see —

The fastest thing on Yggdrasil has always been free. (uh!)

Chorus

Crown to root — root to crown — I run it all (run it all!)

Every word gets heavier each time I make the call (make the call!)

Ratatoskr knows what happens when the mighty fall (mighty fall!)

The squirrel in the middle hears it all! (Hu-ha!)

Bridge

You want to know who kept the feud alive and burning?

(who kept it?)

Not the eagle — his rage needed returning.

(not alone...)

Not the serpent — fury needs some turning.

(not alone...)

Both needed me — that's what I keep learning.

Without the carrier the cosmos goes quiet —

(goes quiet...)

Wisdom sits unread — no one to buy it —

(unread...)

Power needs a witness — someone to supply it —

(supply it...)

Back and forth between the dark and the light riot.

I ran past thirty songs inside the bark —

(thirty songs...)

Heard every god confess into the dark —

(every word...)

Odin's schemes, Fenrir's chain, Surtr's spark —

(every plan...)

The squirrel was the only one who hit the mark.

When Ragnarök came I ran it faster —

(ran faster...)

Carried the eagle's terror to the master —

(to the root...)

Níðhöggr's final word went up as plaster —

(back to crown...)

Then I watched the worlds burn — no disaster.

(Skál to the runner! Skál — he ran it true!)

(The squirrel on the axis heard the whole thing through!)

Drop — Instrumental

Chorus

Crown to root — root to crown — I run it all (run it all!)

Every word gets heavier each time I make the call (make the call!)

Ratatoskr knows what happens when the mighty fall (mighty fall!)

The squirrel in the middle hears it all! (Hu-ha!)

Outro

(Ratatoskr! Ratatoskr!)

The new world — same tree — new eagle...

(Hu-ha!)

New serpent at the root.

Same route.

I'm already running.

(Some things

never stop.)