[Intro][Low guitars rock between two notes like a dark cradle rhythm; Loki enters in a low intimate male vocal.]

[Verse 1][Male Vocal: Loki]
One child had breath like a forge under snow,
Soft little paws with the thunder below.
One child wore scales that were wet from the womb,
Green as old copper in torch-broken gloom.
One child looked up with a half-living face,
Warm on one cheek, on the other—grave grace.
I held all three while the roof-beams sighed,
And no god dared call them children inside.

[Pre-Chorus][Male Vocal: Loki]
They counted claws, they measured bone,
They missed the small hands reaching home.

[Chorus][Gang Vocals]
Three Cradles Under Iron, three names under guard,
Love in a cold hall, judged too hard.
Three Cradles Under Iron, sleep while the anvils ring,
A frightened crown makes a cruel king.

[Verse 2][Male Vocal: Loki]
Fenrir would chew on a strap from my coat,
Jörmungandr curled like a rope at my throat.
Hel touched my beard with her living hand,
Her dead fingers cold as a shoreless land.
Laughter went thin when the High Ones came,
Their mercy wore mail and their fear wore flame.
Odin looked down as if numbers could prove
A wolf could be guilty before he could move.

[Pre-Chorus][Male Vocal: Loki]
They wrote the verdict before the cry,
Then wondered why the milk went dry.

[Chorus][Gang Vocals]
Three Cradles Under Iron, three names under guard,
Love in a cold hall, judged too hard.
Three Cradles Under Iron, sleep while the anvils ring,
A frightened crown makes a cruel king.

[Instrumental Break][A bowed tagelharpa lullaby is crushed by triplet guitars.]

[Bridge][Male Vocal: Loki]
Do not call a cradle a cage,
Do not call a child your age-old rage.
If you plant a blade in a baby’s bed,
Do not ask why the roots grow red.

[Breakdown][Gang Vocals]
Claw. Scale. Bone.
Breath. Salt. Stone.
Half-warm cheek.
No god will speak.

[Build-up][Male Vocal: Loki]
Iron on the doorframe, iron on the floor,
Iron in the silence where they nursed before.

[Final Chorus][Gang Vocals]
Three Cradles Under Iron, three names under guard,
Love in a cold hall, judged too hard.
Three Cradles Under Iron, sleep while the anvils ring,
A frightened crown makes a cruel king.
Three Cradles Under Iron, hear the low drums roll,
They chained the future by starving the soul.

[Outro][Male Vocal: Loki]
Fenrir slept with thunder in his chest,
Hel lay still between life and rest.
The serpent dreamed of a ring of sea,
And I learned what gods call prophecy.