Harbour winds, salt on the tongue, boots thudding on wood,
Chaz at my side, gulls screaming overhead,
The baker’s warmth, flour-dust whispers, gossip of shadows,
Birthing Hut herbs, smoke curling, old women’s eyes like ravens.
Oh the shadow walks,
The sea remembers. (the sea remembers),
Blood calls to blood,
Row, row, row in silence—
Ship of Bones!
Fox Tavern fire, mugs clashing, fisherman’s tale of black shapes,
Longhall hearth flickering strange, courage brewed in ale,
Whaling Hut, harpoons glinting, oarsmen frozen in fear,
They saw it—yes, they saw it—
A vessel rowing itself across midnight waters.
Oh the shadow walks,
The sea remembers. (the sea remembers),
Blood calls to blood,
Row, row, row in silence—
Ship of Bones!
Story Hut runes, Skald’s harp trembling,
Draugar bound to oath-breaking jarl,
Fire lit with truth, hands of shipwright needed,
A warning in rhyme, a legend alive.
“The Ice Caves…
Go north, go north,
Black water spring, shard of power—
Take it, forge it,
Or the sea will claim you.”
Cave mouth yawning, teeth of ice above,
Breath freezing, growl from the dark,
But we step forward, hand to shard,
Glow flooding the chamber, shadow undone.
Oh, Vigra sleeps safe tonight,
The shadow falters. (the shadow falters),
Names in the sagas,
Skald sings our story—
Two Vikings stood,
And the darkness broke.