[Intro] [Nine rapid unison phrases pass between tagelharpa and seven-string guitar before the full drums strike.] [Verse 1] The ninth night cracked along its seam; The root rose through the final dream. The runes climbed red from depth to hand, Each edge a law, each line command. My shoulder tore against the cord; The spear-head ground beneath the lord. I had one breath, one reach, one choice— To die unnamed or take their voice. [Pre-Chorus] The tree bent low; the abyss grew wide. The dead drew back on either side. The marks came near enough to choose— I closed my fist and felt them bruise. [Chorus] I seized the runes before I fell, Nine red teeth from the deepest well. They bit my palm and split my tongue; I sang the words no mouth had sung. The branch released what pain had won— I fell from death. [Refrain] I seized the runes. [Verse 2] The first mark entered like a brand; The second locked around my hand. The third ran upward through the vein; The fourth gave grammar to the pain. The fifth recalled forgotten names; The sixth divided cure from claims. The seventh bound the breath to bone; The eighth made every secret known. [Chorus] I seized the runes before I fell, Nine red teeth from the deepest well. They bit my palm and split my tongue; I sang the words no mouth had sung. The branch released what pain had won— I fell from death. [Refrain] I seized the runes. [Instrumental] [Tagelharpa and guitar perform nine angular unison phrases as the drums alternate 9/8 with crushing 4/4.] [Verse 3] The ninth mark waited near my eye, A narrow door without a sky. It showed the wolf, the ship, the field; It showed what knowledge cannot shield. I saw my body on the rope; I saw the price survive the hope. Then blood and symbol, breath and sound Collapsed into a single wound. [Bridge] [Runes] Name what you seek. [Male Vocal: Odin] The hidden law. [Runes] Name what you offer. [Male Vocal: Odin] All you saw. [Runes] Name what remains when names are gone. [Male Vocal: Odin] The will to take and carry on. [Breakdown] Wisdom never comes without a wound. [Choir] Without a wound. No word is raised without a sound. [Choir] Without a sound. No power enters empty hands. [Choir] It scars the hand. No god returns who understands. [Buildup] I kicked against the hanging tree. The cord tore bark and flesh from me. Gungnir slipped free; the wound ran wide. The nine red signs burned through my side. [Buildup II] I gave one cry—not grief, not fear— The cry that made the runes appear. [Final Chorus] I seized the runes and then I fell, Past branch and blood, past root and well. They bit my palm and split my tongue; I sang the words no mouth had sung. The earth received what pain had won— I rose from death. [Refrain] I seized the runes. I bind the wound. I wake the dead. I turn the spear. [Refrain II] I seal the thread. [Final Refrain II] The king is gone; the work’s begun— [Final Refrain] I paid in flesh. I seized the runes. [Climax] [Choir] Who climbed the tree? [Male Vocal: Odin] A king who bled. [Choir] Who leaves the tree? [Male Vocal: Odin] A voice for the dead. [Outro] [The complete three-note motif resolves for the first time, then ends on an unfamiliar fourth note.] I stand. The rope lies still. The runes keep speaking After my will.