[Intro]
[Wind passes through uneven stone gaps while tagelharpa plays two notes and withholds the third.]

[Verse 1]
No banner moves above the plain.
No blood remains beneath the rain.
The fire sank, the sea withdrew,
And frost grew over all it knew.
A helmet lies beneath the ice,
Its cheek guard bent, its faceplate white.
No hand arrives to lift it free.
No raven waits in any tree.

[Refrain]
Wind through the standing stones,
Move through the cracks and broken bones.
Carry no triumph, carry no claim;
Only the shape of a vanished name.
Where no living voice still knows,
Be the breath through the standing stones.

[Verse 2]
The shield lies farther down the slope,
Too charred for gold, too split for hope.
Yet under ash, beneath the grain,
Two carved names faintly remain.
A thread of red wool holds one side,
Preserved where rim and leather hide.
The hand that tied it turned to clay;
The knot has not yet worn away.

[Refrain]
Wind through the standing stones,
Move through the cracks and broken bones.
Carry no triumph, carry no claim;
Only the shape of a vanished name.
Where no living voice still knows,
Be the breath through the standing stones.

[Verse 3]
Beyond the ridge, the hall is gone.
No untouched horn reflects the dawn.
A melted ring of bronze and gold
Lies where the final cup stood cold.
The root-fire died beneath the hill;
The World Tree’s blackened trunk stands still.
Deep in the earth, one seed is pressed
Between a stone and ashen rest.

[Instrumental Break]
[Bowed lyre and cello circle the unfinished three-note motif while the frame drum sounds once every two measures.]

[Bridge]
Was courage lost because none won?
Was love erased when life was done?
Did duty fail because the blade
Could not prevent the end it made?
The stone gives back no spoken word,
Yet in its hollow, something stirs.
A breath, a tone, a weathered phrase—
The smallest mark outlives the blaze.

[Refrain]
Wind through the standing stones,
Move through the cracks and broken bones.
Carry the oath, but not the claim;
Carry the warmth without the flame.
Where no god speaks and no bird goes,
Be the breath through the standing stones.

[Verse 4]
No morning comes with promised spring.
No hidden choir begins to sing.
The land is pale, the future bare,
With ash still moving through the air.
But when the wind crosses shield and tree,
Three notes return across the scree.
The last hangs low, then settles deep—
A sound the frozen ground may keep.

[Final Refrain]
Wind through the standing stones,
Pass through the world that stands alone.
Carry no victory, carry no throne;
Carry the names no tongue has known.
Even gods leave echoes when every bright hall goes—
And mortals leave them deeper, beneath the ash and snow.
Where memory has no mouth and no warm blood flows,
Be their breath through the standing stones.

[Outro]
Two ravens do not cross the sky.
The faded sun will never rise.
The helmet sleeps beneath the ice.
The red wool holds its final tie.
One seed lies dark beneath the ground.
The wind moves on.
It keeps the sound.

[End]
[The missing third note resolves on tagelharpa, followed by silence.]