The Carpenter's Axe

We felled the ancient oak in the winter wood Where the monolithic stones of the fathers stood We swung the iron adze to shape the keel We bound the heavy timber with bands of steel A vessel built for blood on a foreign shore To feed the raven's hunger and the god of war But the wind has died, the sails are torn A different kind of king is born No longship rides the breaking wave He builds a frame to cheat the grave! Swing the Carpenter's Axe! Hewing the wood of the world-tree down! Not for a ship, not for a throne! But a heavy cross and a briar crown! Strike the iron! Drive the nail! Where the old gods break, the wood prevails! His hands are rough with splinter and stone He cuts the mortal flesh to the eternal bone No dragon prow to carve the freezing tide Just a Roman spear in the Builder's side We sought a hall of shields in the fading light He builds a bridge of blood across the endless night The hammer falls, the timber groans He pays the debt of flesh and bone No longship rides the breaking wave He builds a frame to cheat the grave! Swing the Carpenter's Axe! Hewing the wood of the world-tree down! Not for a ship, not for a throne! But a heavy cross and a briar crown! Strike the iron! Drive the nail! Where the old gods break, the wood prevails! The mast is raised. The sails are gone. The mast is raised. The builder bleeds. THE MAST IS RAISED! HE BEARS THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD'S DEAD SEEDS! Swing the Carpenter's Axe! Hewing the wood of the world-tree down! Not for a ship, not for a throne! But a heavy cross and a briar crown! Strike the iron! Drive the nail! Where the old gods break, the wood prevails! The Builder rests. The work is done.