[Intro]
[Fast 12/8 toms and clipped tagelharpa harmonics trace tight circles before stopping beneath the branch.]

[Verse 1]
[Raven One]
We crossed the cloud at break of grey;
The body swung the wrongward way.
[Raven Two]
His cloak lay folded by the root;
Rain gathered cold inside one boot.
[Raven One]
We called the name that opens doors.
[Raven Two]
No answer rose between the roars.
[Duet: Ravens]
The cord turned slowly left to right;
We did not land upon the site.

[Chorus]
The ravens would not land that night;
His one eye burned without its light.
We circled low and called him lord;
He answered neither wing nor word.
What wisdom wants, it eats outright—
The ravens would not land that night.

[Verse 2]
[Raven Two]
We carried news from every coast—
A wedding feast, a missing host.
[Raven One]
A border raid, a pregnant mare,
A king who choked upon a pear.
[Raven Two]
The small reports he prized before
Fell useless near the hanging lord.
[Duet: Ravens]
The worlds kept moving, grain by grain;
He listened only under pain.

[Chorus]
The ravens would not land that night;
His one eye burned without its light.
We circled low and called him lord;
He answered neither wing nor word.
What wisdom wants, it eats outright—
The ravens would not land that night.

[Instrumental]
[Tremolo guitar and toms accelerate through three circling patterns, each ending in total silence.]

[Verse 3]
[Raven One]
A feather brushed the outer bark.
[Raven Two]
The root below returned a mark.
[Raven One]
Three angled cuts glowed wet and red.
[Raven Two]
They moved like thoughts without a head.
[Duet: Ravens]
We knew all speech of beast and man,
But not the speech in that red span.
The marks looked up; we climbed the air.
For once, our master was not there.

[Bridge]
[Raven One]
What if he rises with our face?
[Raven Two]
What if he leaves no human trace?
[Raven One]
What if he knows each hidden word?
[Raven Two]
What if he cannot hear a bird?
[Duet: Ravens]
A mind may cross the final line
And bring back knowledge stripped of kind.

[Break]
[Male Vocal: Odin]
Come closer.
[Duet: Ravens]
That was not his tone.
[Male Vocal: Odin]
Come closer.
[Duet: Ravens]
The root spoke through bone.

[Buildup]
We beat the rain with failing wings.
We called him father, thief and king.
The red marks climbed from root to cord.
The tree drew language through our lord.

[Final Chorus]
The ravens would not land that night;
His one eye burned with borrowed sight.
We circled low and spoke his name;
The voice that answered was not the same.
What wisdom takes, no wing makes right—
The ravens would not land that night.

[Final Refrain]
We knew the god who climbed the tree;
We feared the one who would climb free.

[Outro]
[Wing-like drums vanish, leaving three clipped tagelharpa harmonics.]

Two feathers fall.
Neither touches the root.