[Intro]
[Thirteen-beat guitar figures sway beneath the sound of rope tightening against bark.]

[Verse 1]
Night one, the cord learned all my weight.
Night two, the cold came through the gate.
Night three, the rain filled mouth and sleeve;
The branch asked what I would not leave.
My heel struck bark, then struck again.
No floor received the falling pain.
Above, my ravens crossed the moon;
Below, the roots replied too soon.

[Chorus]
Nine nights on the world-tree,
No bread, no bowl, no mercy.
Wind counted bone, rain counted vein;
Root answered root through rings of pain.
I hung where none could follow me—
Nine nights on the world-tree.

[Verse 2]
Night four, the spear began to speak.
It found the pulse beneath my cheek.
Night five, my fingers lost their hold;
My blood turned tacky, dark and cold.
Night six, I heard the dead below
Recite the debts that gods still owe.
They did not curse or call me king;
They named each unremembered thing.

[Chorus]
Nine nights on the world-tree,
No bread, no bowl, no mercy.
Wind counted bone, rain counted vein;
Root answered root through rings of pain.
I hung where none could follow me—
Nine nights on the world-tree.

[Instrumental]
[Tagelharpa, bowed bass and detuned guitar pull the three-note motif apart over three cycles of thirteen beats.]

[Verse 3]
Night seven peeled language from my tongue.
Old victories came back unsung.
The men I sent through spear and flame
Passed one by one and spoke my name.
Night eight removed the throne and hall;
I could not tell myself at all.
A body swung, a wound ran slow,
A single eye stared down below.

[Break]
[Yggdrasil]
You climb by falling.
You drink by thirst.
You seek the ending.
Name what came first.
[Male Vocal: Odin]
The wound.
[Yggdrasil]
Then bear it.
[Male Vocal: Odin]
The word.
[Yggdrasil]
Then share it.

[Bridge]
Night nine had neither dark nor dawn.
The measure of the world was gone.
The rope became a line of thought;
The spear became the price I sought.

[Climax]
[Choir]
Look down.
[Male Vocal: Odin]
There is no ground.
[Choir]
Look down.
[Male Vocal: Odin]
The roots make sound.

[Climax II]
[Choir]
Lose what you are.
[Male Vocal: Odin]
Then let them prove.

[Final Chorus]
Nine nights on the world-tree,
No name, no rank, no mercy.
The wind took bone, the rain took vein;
The root gave shape to measured pain.
I hung beyond what I could be—
Nine nights on the world-tree.

[Outro]
I looked below.
Below looked back.
Three red marks
Opened in the black.