[Intro]
[One shield strike sounds for each of the twelve defenders before the 6/8 guitar rhythm begins.]

[Verse 1]
We met by the ford where the alder roots froze,
Twelve standing forward while cold water rose.
One carried an axe with a nail through the haft;
One wore a mail shirt split open in half.
One limped from an arrow removed at the hall.
The youngest had scarcely grown beard-hair at all.
They set their shields edgewise in mud by the stream,
Then waited for daylight to colour the seam.

[Pre-Chorus]
No skald had been summoned.
No witness was paid.
The oath would be measured
By choices they made.

[Chorus]
This is the Iron Oath, not spoken for glory,
Not carved for a king in a flattering story.
Hold until sunrise, then hold if you can.
Give road to the child, give breath to the clan.
This is the Iron Oath, through frost and through flame:
Let ravens carry each unforgotten name.

[Verse 2]
I offered them silver from rings on my arm.
They pushed it aside without anger or charm.
"What market remains where such payment has worth?
Who weighs silver rings when ash covers earth?"
The oldest bound leather around every shield,
Then marked every bearer in white from the field.
"If none leaves the ford when the final blows fall,
You carry these marks. You remember us all."

[Verse 3]
The healer led families west to the rise,
With snow in their lashes and cloth on their eyes.
Each child touched a warrior's shield or sleeve,
Too young to know why some would never leave.
One girl gave the youngest a red wooden bead,
The token she carried with barley seed.
He tied it beneath the torn mail on his chest:
"I'll hold it till morning. You carry the rest."

[Bridge]
We cut the torn banner in twelve narrow bands,
Not ownership's colours, but proof of their stand.
I asked who commanded. They answered as one:
"The road is commander until they are gone."

[Instrumental Break]
[Twelve short lead-guitar and bowed-lyre phrases pass the descending motif from one instrumental voice to the next.]

[Breakdown]
The last oath is not for glory.
The last oath purchases time.
The last oath holds no kingdom.
The last oath guards the climb.

[Final Chorus]
This is the Iron Oath, not spoken for glory,
But carried by children who finish the story.
Hold until sunrise, then hold past the span.
Give road to the child, give breath to the clan.
This is the Iron Oath, though kingdom and hall fall:
Let ravens carry the names of us all.