Autumn came to an end And the first snow began to fall Balder's face was clouded The dreams of warning had called His mother sought oaths From all this below the sky To not to hurt her son To not to let him die
Balder stood there encircled by gods Thrown with stones, spears and hit With sword No damage they had caused, not a wound In jealousy Loki disguised to find Why there was no harm The mother told him that all the things On the earth Had sworn an oath not to harm nor Kill her son 'All? ', he asked and then she told him That only one was too young to swear And mistletoe was the one
So Loki went across the frosted land To an ancient tree where mistletoe grew He cut off a piece and Returned to the plain Where gods were still enjoying their game
Loki saw Hodur the Blind sitting Outside the ring watching The god's game Loki gave him the twig and offered To guide his hand Pleased Hodur stepped forth And threw the twig across the plain It hit Balder's chest piercing His bright body and he fell Onto the ground in blood The laughter and the joy ceased When Balder's blood spilled On the pure snow of Asg†rd
[Act II: A Farewell to the Son of Odin]
Balder was set into his ship And there he laid cold With his wife beside him On his breast were all his possessions Placed carefully As the ceremony began The sun sank low over the icy sea Two ravens circled In the clear blue sky Singing their sadness Thor raised his hammer And blessed the pyre Waves carried the ship far to the sea There it burnt bright high Against the darkening sky Odin stood... tears falling from his eyes
[Act III: Hermod's Ride to Hel]
Through dark howling valleys Of wind swept desolation Hermod rode alone Towards the land of death Sleipnir's hooves in fire Nine days, nine nights Hermod rode to Hel
On the farthest shore of Gjoll he came The bridge keeper waited Modgud Her name He asked for the release of Balder His brother She recalled and showed him the path Into the dark
Hermod arrived to the palace At the Hel's table among the dead He found his brother sitting Hermod told Balder He had come to take him to Asg†rd That night they sat Chatting and recalling past times
He went to Hel and begged her For Balder's release Telling her that all mourned For his decease She promised, if all things weeped For him He'd be free to return Through the valleys so dim
Hermod returned and told the gods What Hel had said So messengers were sent to All over the world And all the world wept For their Balder beloved Only one old woman refused: 'Let Hel keep what she had'
[Act IV: The Bounding of Loki]
Soon the gods found That old woman was Loki Revenge they swore And begin to hunt him Loki spent days as a salmon in waters Or as himself in a house Once the gods found Loki hiding In a river When he jumped to escape Thor caught him into his fist The gods took him to a deep cavern With his sons One day changed into a wolf And the wolf devoured other son's body The gods took his intestines And with them bound Loki to rocks Skadi hung a snake above Loki's head Venom dripping into his mouth So great was the pain That when Loki writhed All th worlds shook and trembled...
[Act V: The Final Battle]
After Balder's death The gods withdrew from the earth Evil spread and Fimbulvetr arrived Battles raged all over The wolves rose One devoured the sun One the moon Stars fell crushing onto the earth
Fenris broke his chains Midgard heaved his body Drowned the land in waves Washed the battlefields bloody Giants marched Fenris approached Gjallarhorn's alarm Echoed in the air
The armies of dead marched Lead by Loki the avenger The battlefield of Vigrid Will soon bathe in blood Odin rushed With a spear in his hand Behind him came The heroes of Valhalla
And the battle began God against giant And giant against god The brave armies clashed After a long battle Both giants and gods Laid on the ground Never to rise again...
[Act IV: A New Heaven, A New Earth]
All the earth burnt in flames In times the flames will die One man and one woman survived And they shall bleed a new race Vidar and vali will walk upon A new heaven They'll live upon the Ida plain Where Asg†rd once was And re-build it to be Far greater than before Children of thor will bring Their father's hammer And Balder will return bright Leading the gods in the new age ...The new age under the sign Of the hammer