[Intro][One low guitar chord decays into a tom heartbeat; Odin enters alone, low and controlled.]

[Verse 1][Male Vocal: Odin]
I did not hate them, I tell the wall,
I held the roof so it would not fall.
I saw the wolf at the end of the spear,
I named my terror duty, not fear.
A king must cut where a father may plead,
A crown is a mouth that is never freed.
If one child suffers and thousands stand,
Is blood not lighter than burning land?

[Pre-Chorus][Male Vocal: Odin]
Quiet the cup, quiet the throne,
A lie sounds clean when spoken alone.

[Chorus][Male Vocal: Odin with Low Gang Vocals]
Odin’s Quiet Lie sits under the gold,
Warm on the tongue, in the marrow cold.
Odin’s Quiet Lie keeps counting the slain,
Calling the wound a wall against pain.

[Verse 2][Male Vocal: Odin]
Hel below roots, the serpent in brine,
Fenrir held fast by a ribbon fine.
Three small doors shut, one kingdom spared,
So says the wisdom I polished and aired.
But Týr’s missing hand keeps knocking at night,
A stump in my dream with a finger of light.
And Loki’s old laughter, thin as a wire,
Turns in my hall like a coal in the pyre.

[Pre-Chorus][Male Vocal: Odin]
Quiet the raven, quiet the drum,
The worst of the ending is what I become.

[Chorus][Male Vocal: Odin with Low Gang Vocals]
Odin’s Quiet Lie sits under the gold,
Warm on the tongue, in the marrow cold.
Odin’s Quiet Lie keeps counting the slain,
Calling the wound a wall against pain.

[Instrumental Break][Slow toms leave empty spaces between bowed tagelharpa notes.]

[Bridge][Male Vocal: Odin]
What if the seer gave warning, not law?
What if the future was raw when I saw?
What if the bite and the ring and the throne
Were seeds I planted and watered alone?

[Breakdown][Male Vocal: Odin]
No.
Hold the line.
No.
Call it design.
No.
Do not kneel.
No.
Never feel.

[Build-up][Male Vocal: Odin]
The ravens scratch at the window frame,
Each black beak clicks a child’s name.

[Final Chorus][Male Vocal: Odin with Low Gang Vocals]
Odin’s Quiet Lie sits under the gold,
Warm on the tongue, in the marrow cold.
Odin’s Quiet Lie keeps counting the slain,
Calling the wound a wall against pain.
Odin’s Quiet Lie, old king in disguise,
The one-eyed god cannot close both eyes.

[Outro][Male Vocal: Odin]
I put out the torch and the dark stayed bright,
Full of a wolf’s breath, close as a bite.
I slept in armor beside my spear,
Guarding a kingdom from what I fear.