Bathory - The Ravens

The old Crows cry the first warning
The rumbling frozen ground the last
Hooves thundering on the three feet snow
The icy dawn yet to begin

"Bursting through the icy morning
Four times five black shadows a horse
Steel glimmering in the awakening sun's light
And blood colours the white snow red
Cries echoes through the dark deep woods
Open wounds steam in the cold morning air
And the new day was greeted with a burden
Both raped and dead."

Long golden scalps hung by the old twin headed
Beasts standard black
Women and children brought far north into the land of
No turning back
The burning village spread by the wind across the
Tundra

Cry old crow cry

Long tall beautiful people fallen lifeless to the ground
Headless scattered still graceful bodies
Blood coloured the white snow all around
Through the dark deep woods to the mountains
Towering to the sky
The wind carries the quest for revenge
And the tale of Blood on Ice... Открыть страницу с текстом

"Creator of life, guardian of the dead
Goddess of battle and war
All of ye watch me, my sword by my side
Proudly I sit on my horse

And I wait for the sign in the sky to appear
Telling me that the moment has come
For me to ride beyond the edge of this world
Into the realms where the shadows are strong

Gods of thunder of wind and of rain
Valkyries my soul is yours should I fail
Let my beheaded and battered corps lay
And take me where you bring all nordsmen slain

Gods of thunder of wind and of rain
Hugin and Munin my eyes in the sky
Heart of mine thrown in the pit of the snake
I will not need no heart where I go should I die

Realms of the shadows bring me no fear
I may stand or be beaten and torn
The mountains will stand, but the life of a man
Was decided long before he was born

Leaving the plains where my ancestors hunted
For meat and for hides against the cold
Here the fire was tamed, here our swords were made
And here the elders amazing tales told

I ride into land few have seen or returned from
To tell of its bleakness and dark
I see nothing but mist and the mountains so tall
I can't tell them and the sky apart

Gods of thunder of wind and of rain
Valkyries my soul is yours should I fail
Let my beheaded and battered corps lay
And take me where you bring all nordsmen slain

Gods of thunder of wind and of rain
Hugin and Munin my eyes in the sky
Heart of mine thrown in the pit of the snake
I will not need no heart where I go should I die

Realms of the shadows bring me no fear
I may stand or be beaten and torn
The mountains will stand, but the life of a man
Was decided long before he was born

Gods of thunder of wind and of rain
Valkyries my soul is yours should I fail
Let my beheaded and battered corps lay
And take me where you bring all nordsmen slain

Gods of thunder of wind and of rain
Hugin and Munin my eyes in the sky
Heart of mine thrown in the pit of the snake
I will not need no heart where I go should I die" Открыть страницу с текстом

The snow covered plains
Early dawn

"As the village greets a new day
The old Crow cries atop the pine
Spiritually bounded with nature
And all creatures, great and small
The hunting families sense danger
As the cry of the old Crow continues
A rumble, at first loud enough to a human ear
Grows into a deafening storm
Of hooves thundering across the frozen tundra
Then bursts into the
Village, four times five riders clad in in armor black
Swords drawn glimmering in the awakening sun's light
Cries echoes
Throats are slit
Beautiful bodies fall to the frozen ground
And limbs of able men are stewn
Across the snow covered plains
The blood colors the white snow red
Women and children are brought far north
Hidden under the foliage of a majestic
Tree, a ten year-old boy
When the shadows a horse can no longer be heard
He crawls out from his hideout to seek his loved ones
Not a sound
Not a movement
No sign of life
And thus begins the saga of Blood On Ice" Открыть страницу с текстом

I have paved these forests for so long
I don't know
If I am man or I am beast
I though hold deep within me a quest for revenge
Then I must be a man as much as I can be
I have learned to speak the tongue of animal
I have learned to read the signs in bark and snow
I have taken within myself the spirits of my fathers long time gone
In this short time, far from home, a man of iron I've grown
A man of Iron I have grown Открыть страницу с текстом

"O yee one eyed old man. You who see it all
You who see the past and all to be
Say, yee one eyed old man. For I need to know
Tell me which path fate has chosen for me
Say does the Northstar still shine on me
Say will I set my loved ones free

O yee one eyed old man. Of yee our elders told
You have been since land and sky was one
And if you really knows all that will be, tell me
What the future wants with this young no one's son

Say does the Northstar still shine on me
What do you see in store for me"

"Questions. Questions. Many you ask
About the future and some of the past
Few have seen what I see. Fewer still will ever know
I gave an eye to see better
And your thirst for knowledge grows

But you, my child, who treads the road of pain
Who have felt such anger. Such that bears no name
Thee shall I nurse as if you were my own son
And this very night your training will already have begun

For I have seen you come for a thousand years or so
And the gods have told me to teach you
All that I possess and know
And though my eye no longer sees
My hand held out in front of me
I still gaze crystal clear at all
That mortal man cannot see

I see you ride up on a stallion as white as snow
With the speed of the winds and endurance untold
And you wield a sword of steel forged in fire and ice
And the cry of a warrior you sound
And victory is in your eyes
Hear me my son, for you are the chosen one..."

Yeeeeeaa......
Yeeeeeaa...... Открыть страницу с текстом

The one-eyed old man told me that the face that I would see
Has paralyzed one thousand brave men sure of victory
I cannot fight blindfolded and I'd freeze if I could see
So I need to sacrifice my eyes to see all from within

The one-eyed old man told me of a lake that no one knows
Where the end of the sky unites with the bottom
Countless feet down deep
And he told me when this world was young into its depths his eye he had thrown
So that, though one-eyed, he could see more than can be seen

I'll throw my eyes into the lake
So that I will see from within
I'll throw my eyes into the lake
When I'm blind I will still see

At the bottom of the lake
My two eyes will shine like the stars
At the bottom of the lake
I will see no matter how near or far

At the bottom of the lake
My two eyes will shine like the stars
At the bottom of the lake
I will see no matter how near or far

Regardless off with which speeds my horse takes me through the night
No matter how sharp the blade of my sword seems to be
Oh, even with the aid of two pair of eyes way up high
In the end before the Beast, its face I would have had to see

But with my two eyes in the depths my vision is supreme
I see all things that can't be seen but not my hand held out in front of me
The face that makes men freeze I now need not to see at all
I'll feel the presence of the Beast but will not need to stare him down no more

I've thrown my eyes into the lake
So that I will see from within
I've thrown my eyes into the lake
And now when blind I still see

At the bottom of the lake
My two eyes are shining like the stars
At the bottom of the lake
I now see no matter how near or far

At the bottom of the lake
My two eyes are shining like the stars
At the bottom of the lake
I now see no matter how near or far Открыть страницу с текстом

Steadily on jagged wings
Feathers black against the burning sky
Spread your wings and ride the wind
Gaze down on me with blackest eyes

Fly my Ravens, fly ahead
Over the mountains and endless sky
Fly my Ravens, over my head
Let the wind carry you up high

Fly my Ravens, it's time to fly
And for me maybe to die Открыть страницу с текстом

Fifteen years have passed
Every day in the woods have cried
The words of vengeance and revenge
The Gods have watched him day and night
By the Northern stars bright light
Growing stronger. Coming nearer

Upon a steed as white as snow
He is riding through this land of no return
His hair blowing in the wind
A sword in his hand. And his eyes they burn

"Guide me, my Ravens. Find the way
Through the woods and snow

Let your eyes be mine seeking
For the valley of death
Come this far I am willing
To face the twin-headed beast's breath

Let your wings be my heart
In the air, black as the night
I have steel at side. Powers of thunder
The Gods with me ride

I trust on my Ravens , watching from above
Black as night. Swift as lightning
And graceful as the doves

I trust on my Stallion. Born by the wind
Taking me through the valley
Where this world ends and the shadows begins

I trust on my Sword. Forged in fire and ice
Its sharp blade shall be baptised in blood
As I take the Beast's life

Cry, old crow, cry...

Come out of darkness, you beast of Hel, face me
Out on this field of moonlit snow
I will not be deterred by your ugliness
Before my sword your two heads will roll

I will not let my sword rest until its steel
Has sung for your ugly twin head
I'll wipe the sweat off my face with your bloody scalps
And watch your four eyes telling me that your dead."

Gathering speed. Charging forward
Collision is close now
The swords are drawn, held high
They flash in the pale blue moonlight

Aiming at throats bare. The moment is so near
The time seems to halt for a while
Even the stars in the sky hold their breath

This is the moment of glory or death...

The moment to maim or be put to rest...

"So close now I almost can hear the black blood
In the beast's thick veins pumping
I am swinging my sword. May the Gods be with me

I ride out through the vast portals of Hel
I swing my sword in the air
And the dead beast's two bloody scalps attached
To a spear

Now is come the moment for me to set free
Those, along time ago, brought far north
By the twin-headed beast
On that daybreak when old crow did cry…

That hard winter when I still a child…

By my Father was told of a hall way above the clouds
Gates open wide for the one who dies
With sword in hand Открыть страницу с текстом

Tendons and muscles of steel
And the blaze of lightning in its eyes
White as the snow on the hills
And its reins, that I hold, they are mine

This stallion and sword in exchange
For my heart and both of my eyes
The ravens of swift wings my sight
Surely now victory must be mine

Eight legged stallion of mine
Run with the speed of the winds
Eight legged stallion I stride
Run as if you carried wings

I paint thee with blood from my veins
Images of origin long lost
I adorn your white mane and tail
With the stars that fell from the sky Открыть страницу с текстом

This sword of steel that I hold in my hand
Ore of this mountain
A sword of this land
Made for a king when the elders were young
To guard us and to guide us in an age since long gone

A sword to protect the peace in troubled times
A sword made to battle and to take a life
This sword is the backbone of the life that I know
Here among mountains and snow

This sword will be one with me. Body and soul
All of me will be delivering each blow
Slung on my back. Oh, its powers I feel
I can hardly wait to try its steel

A sword to protect the peace in troubled times
A sword made to battle and to take a life
This sword is the backbone of the life that I know
Here among mountains and snow

Behold its sharp beauty. Just look at its shine
This sword was forged in fire and ice
This sword is the backbone of the life that I know
Here among mountains and snow

Now I am ready
To let this old sword sing again Открыть страницу с текстом

Resting by my fire. Looking deep into it's flames
My mind must have been somewhere else
Far beyond these plains
I am suddenly aware of a pair of eyes staring at me
I turn around and behold the most ugly thing I have seen

The woman standing in the glade like a shadow in the night
Points her wretched finger at me with a wretched smile
And she asks me in a voice that sounds as if it's been so long
Since she spoke, if I seek magic then I should come along

I'm but a man. Mortal, a man
But she leaves no footprints in the snow
Still I follow on to where she is going
For she has promised me magic if I follow on

She takes me to a part of these woods few have ever seen
Where the sun surely won't reach
Still the ground ominously gleams
She says she's seen me coming and that she knows where I'll go
But before I leave she says there is this one thing I should know

She offers me the ability to take a fatal wound
Every cut by sword or spear will be absorbed by her tree-womb
The magic will remain until it's time for me to part with this mortal world
And all she'll claim is my young heart

I'm but a man. Mortal, a man
And I'll need all the help that I can get
So I give my heart to the woman of the dark
With or without it...my life is not over yet

Wing of bat and lizard's eye
Dust of a star fallen from the sky
Tears of a virgin, and the cum of a god
Thirteen drops of an infant's blood
A twist of a cat's spit and oil of the moon
Stir for a while and very soon
A salve to be applied upon the chest
Close to where the heart beats strong

No pains will occur when her hand is pushed into my flesh
She'll slowly draw my living heart out of my open chest
She'll place my heart in the pit of the snake and behold the years go by
Hers to keep from the moment when the time has come for me to die Открыть страницу с текстом