[Intro]
[A cracked horn gives three uneven notes above one sustained low guitar chord.]

[Verse 1]
I paid an eye beside the well
To read the roots where futures dwell.
I hung nine nights from branch and rope,
Not seeking comfort, crown or hope.
The runes rose sharp beneath my hand;
They showed the wolf, the burning land.
I learned each road that wisdom knew—
And every road led straight here too.

[Chorus]
The spear was already broken
Before it challenged the sky.
The ending was already spoken
Before the first battle cry.
I traded an eye for the knowledge of when,
But no god can loosen the knot of the Norns again.

[Verse 2]
Gungnir lies across my knee;
No forged edge once flew more free.
Yet near the blade, a silver seam
Runs pale as frost across a stream.
I press my thumb into the line
And feel the failure under mine.
A spear may never miss its aim—
Yet fate can choose the hunter’s name.

[Chorus]
The spear was already broken
Before it challenged the sky.
The ending was already spoken
Before the first battle cry.
I traded an eye for the knowledge of when,
But no god can loosen the knot of the Norns again.

[Verse 3]
My ravens should have crossed the door
With news from mountain, field and shore.
One branch was empty, then the next;
No feather came, no final text.
What use is thought without return?
What use is sight when heavens burn?
I know the wolf that waits below.
Knowledge names the wound—it cannot stop the blow.

[Bridge]
Frigg, do not ask me to lie.
The lie would die before I die.
The sons will fight, the hall will fall,
The fire will take the golden wall.
I cannot promise I prevail.
I only promise not to fail
The oath that brings me to the plain—
Though oath and god are split in twain.

[Instrumental Break]
[Cello and low guitar sustain five-beat phrases while the horn motif fractures between them.]

[Final Chorus]
The spear was already broken
Before I mounted to ride.
My death was already spoken,
Yet I will not turn aside.
I traded an eye for the shape of the end,
And learned that no wisdom can make fate bend.
Let the wolf take the god and the red field run dry—
The spear was already broken, but I still raise it high.

[Outro]
He stood and wrapped the cracked spear tight.
No raven crossed the swallowed light.
He spoke no charm, he wore no crown.
Then opened the doors and carried it down.