Tyr's Lament

Tyr and Fenris, by Meredyth.deviantart.com

Sol had risen, Asgard's banners
Caught high in the morning breeze,
From Valhalla's steps, I looked
Across the worlds at violent seas,
Across the downs and rocky mounds
And the flaming tar-black stream,
A boom like thunder rolled from Jottunheim,
A Giantess' labour scream.

And many a moon did pass without
word of what had come to be,
Until the day that Loki came
To introduce his child to me,
Such tragedy, we could not guess,
Would befall the Gods in days foretold,
But such a day I would delay
For every ounce of Fafnir's gold.

But innocence can never last
While prophecy's yet to unfold.

Loki's son, Lupine Shadow,
Mighty Fenrir was his name,
Frolicking in Midgard meadow,
By my own hand he would be tamed,
One by one the Aesir came each day
With meat to feed the gentle beast,
Though feared he was by them,
But by me, loved, and feared the least.

Fenrir, wolf of chaos, wild,
Storm the battlefield at my side,
Companions in arms we be, but mild
In manner after our metal's been tried,
And at day's end when victory songs are sung,
And horror's memory fades,
Your loyalty shines like the sun,
To ease warrior's weary pains.

But size and power, though gifts they were,
were cause for you to be betrayed.

The fear of Ragnarok spread like plague,
Through Odin's halls, the fear of death,
And ordered, he, that bonds be made,
Despite my pleas with wasted breath,
For never could I dare accept that you
Would rise against us so in final days,
And so the Gods, to Midgard stone,
Sought to bind you, their mortal foe.

First came chains of iron, wrought,
Then chains of bronze and shining steel,
And when challenged to break them, how you fought,
And rent each one in turn with zeal,
But Odin's mind was sharp and cunning,
Thus, from hen's teeth and woman's beard,
Formed bonds to cease your running.

Such a fine thread, you saw,
Barely visible in the light of day,
And in your heart I watched distrust be born,
When charged to break this thread, said ye, "Nay,
For lest this be some wicked trick
Of cowardice, give me assurance
That you will work to set me free,
Should I fail to sunder this!"

And lo, my of reckoning came,
Such painful choice at my feet was placed,
In weakness I forsook my name,
and lied for Odin to your face,
And so I offered up my hand,
To earn your faith and trust in me,
Held in your jaws, I took my stand,
And you submitted willingly.

Rip out my wretched heart, so weak,
Tear off my wretched hand,
For as I watched you thrash and shriek,
As they bound you to the land,
Your eyes, once full of warmth, turned black,
And misty cold like Niflheim's ice,
As you fought and cried and rent your back,
Trapped by the Dwarves' awful device.

Each day I look upon your hill,
And each day I feel my black heart sink,
And each day you look with hatred, still,
Upon my mournful face, and do not blink,
For my betrayal, though it be great,
And shattering to our friendship so,
Fills me with guilt that won't abate,
And a dark, all-consuming sorrow.

I was the first to lead you,
The first to meet you eye to eye,
The last brave enough to feed you,
The last to weep as we said goodbye,
I loved you as a father would,
As though you were a child of mine,
I'd have chosen differently if I could,
But I'll mourn beside you when Vidarr lays you down to die.

And though the foretold war may rage,
And mighty Sol be swallowed whole,
And Odin sundered limb from limb,
As the Norns fulfill the worldly goal,
And after, when the wheel turns yet again,
Let my dearest friend never forget,
My choice will be to save him from such pain,
His suffering, ever my worst regret.