Raise your cup

[Gravelly, slow, deliberate voice]

(Raise your cup, my brothers,
(pause, let the words hang like smoke in the hall)

Verse 

Raise your cup, my brothers,
To storms we rode and seas we plowed.
Axes sharp, hearts unbroken,
Under sky of thunder, proud.

I have sailed where wolves howl,
Fought where mountains touch the clouds.
Fire in the hall, blood on my hands,
Yet I stand, unbowed.

The sea called me, dark and endless,
Waves taller than mountains,
Ravens circling overhead,
Marking where the brave would fall.

I took what I could,
Lost what I loved,
And laughed at the wind that tried to break me.

Raise your cup to Odin’s eyes,
To the warriors fallen, the endless skies.
Tales of glory, fierce and true,
I drank the night, and I drank it too.

Through snow and shadow, through flame and frost,
I’ve gained my treasure, I’ve borne my loss.
Raise your cup, the saga runs,
Till the sun bleeds red and the last horn hums.

Hoist the sail! Break the waves!
We are hunters, no one saves!
Storm winds howl! Ravens fly!
Steel and shadow, do or die!

Oar and axe! Fire and frost!
Gain the world, no matter the cost!
Sing it loud! Sing it proud!
To the sea, to the storm, to the clouds!

Even as my hair turns silver,
Even when my bones lie cold,
The saga will speak my name,
And the sea will remember my wrath.

Raise your cup, brothers,
Raise it high!
Steel and fire, we do not die!
Fight and feast, the night is new!
We are kings, we wear no crown!

A rugged, epic storytelling voice of a lone warrior recounting battles, journeys, and legends. Simple, vivid language