[Intro]
[Bowed nyckelharpa circles around the broken-horn motif in six-eight time.]

[Verse 1]
I crossed the ridge where no cartwheel had rolled,
Past birches bent like beggars in the cold.
Black ravens lined a ring of standing stone,
Each bird as still as letters carved in bone.
A woman knelt with silver in her braid,
Her knife traced runes the snowfall had betrayed.
She did not turn or ask from where I came;
She touched the map and spoke the dragon’s name.

[Duet - Yrsa and Ivar, alternating]
[Yrsa]
“Vaelgrim slept before your church was raised.”
[Ivar]
“The royal books say northern beasts were crazed.”
[Yrsa]
“The royal books were sharpened like a spear.”
[Ivar]
“Then tell me why the ravens gather here.”

[Chorus]
These are the runes where ravens kneel,
Cut into granite no decree can seal.
Kings may command what living mouths reveal,
But stone remembers every broken deal.
These are the runes where ravens kneel—
Read them in blood; the buried words turn real.

[Verse 2]
She showed three crowns beneath a dragon’s wing,
Three mortal houses sworn to serve one king.
Not king of men, but warden of the snow,
Who kept the nameless winter sealed below.
The first house died, the second fled by sea,
The third became the present dynasty.
Their seal still bore the outline of a horn—
Removed from every banner newly born.

[Pre-Chorus]
[Yrsa]
“Your rusted sword belonged beside this stone.”
[Ivar]
“Then why was every Keeper left unknown?”
[Yrsa]
“Because the throne that broke the ancient chain
Could only rule by naming honour shame.”

[Chorus]
These are the runes where ravens kneel,
Cut into granite no decree can seal.
Kings may command what living mouths reveal,
But stone remembers every broken deal.
These are the runes where ravens kneel—
Read them in blood; the buried words turn real.

[Instrumental Break]
[Nyckelharpa and lead guitar trade the rune melody over rotating tom accents.]

[Bridge]
The ravens rose but made no common cry;
Their wings turned daylight black against the sky.
Yrsa pressed charcoal hard against my page—
The buried oath rose black from age to age.

[Choir]
Steinn man, hrafn sér.
Þat er konungr dylr er hér ritað.

[Final Chorus]
These are the runes where ravens kneel,
Cut into granite no decree can seal.
The crown may break, the church may turn its wheel,
But stone remembers what the proud conceal.
These are the runes where ravens kneel—
Now I have read what living kings conspire to seal.

[Outro]
Yrsa faced north where blue-white mountains shone:
“Find Vaelgrim—before the thaw reaches his throne.”