[Intro]
Warm rope. Cold rock.
No key. No lock.

[Verse 1]
They dragged me down where no roots drink,
Past blind worms and walls that stink.
They laid my back on a slab of black,
My son's death tightening the slack.
The cord still steamed in lantern flare,
A red-made chain in mountain air.
Thor held my knees, Tyr held my jaw,
Odin watched and named it law.

[Pre-Chorus]
Blood will cool, but not forgive,
Meat will harden, knots endure.
What was child and what was vein
Learned the shape of god-made chain.

[Chorus]
Blood becomes iron, iron becomes oath,
Bound to the stone by the son I lost.
Blood becomes iron, iron becomes frost,
Count every kingdom by what it costs.

[Verse 2]
They crossed the cords through rib and wrist,
Pulled till the dead flesh hissed.
My shoulders cracked, my ankles burned,
No face inside that cave had turned.
Above my brow they fixed the beast,
A serpent priest for endless feast.
Its green mouth opened, drop by drop,
And time came down with no way to stop.

[Chorus]
Blood becomes iron, iron becomes oath,
Bound to the stone by the son I lost.
Blood becomes iron, iron becomes frost,
Count every kingdom by what it costs.

[Guitar Solo][A raw minor-key solo cuts over marching drums and the three-note tagelharpa figure.]

[Bridge]
You wanted stillness. You wanted peace.
You wanted one mouth forced to cease.
But chain a fire beneath the floor,
And every house will heat with war.

[Breakdown]
Pull.
Knot.
Breathe.
Rot.

[Final Chorus]
Blood becomes iron, iron becomes oath,
Bound to the stone by the son I lost.
Blood becomes iron, iron becomes frost,
Count every kingdom by what it costs.
Blood becomes iron under Asgard's boast,
Law becomes hunger when mercy is lost.

[Outro]
The serpent lowered its dripping crown,
And the first green drop came down.
