many years
have passed the mark
since I last sang this song

many swords
have crossed their blades
many souls have suffered

but my eyes grow weak
and my beard grows long
with peace now being offered

so once more I tell this tale
once more I ride this demon

crouch down close to my fire
for the cold sinks to your bones

as the shackles of the evil eye
turns back those bygone days

* 

Glendyn was my given name
in that carnage so long ago

now my spirit roams these darkened halls
with the hearth now centuries cold

and though my body is long since dust
my story must be told


we were the mighty brethren
in long boats we did arrive

we had our quest to fight and burn
slaying all we found alive

and as we marched across the land
you heard our battle cry


the winter's breath was our friend
fierceness was our shield

we fought until the death of all
our honor would not yield

and of the brothers in battle lost
we burned upon the field


entire towns we left in ruins
dying embers in the snow

the gods required sacrifice
our bloodthirst they did know

and as we crossed the village gate
our blades strained to taste our foe


there was plunder that we gathered
young lasses that we caught

we kept them for our pleasures
the rewards of battles fought

and the goddess that we worshiped
was the destruction that we wrought


we raised our swords in victory
our shields hung by our side

for underfoot lay the broken bodies
of the innocent that died

and the blood that froze to mother-earth
surely brought tears into her eyes


now I have seen the tunnel's glimmer
of this punishment forlorn

I hear the children screaming
as my soul is burned and torn

and I await the eternal quiet
of their forgiveness and their scorn


the light is growing stronger
my dust trembles beneath the stone

their far-off voices speak to me
as the seeds of mercy sown

and my misery hangs in tatters
as gristle from the bone


my peace is that much nearer
the gods hear my anguished plea

for I am the last brethren
who still journeys this dark sea

and with my endless song now over

I am, forever... free