Moonlit Shield

On the fjord of broken oars,

beneath a dead sky,

Where the longships sleep in bone and rust,

I watched the clouds tear open,

And you fell - not fell - descended.

Moonlight cut the sea in half,

Silver on your bloodied mail,

Wings of ash and swan-feather,

A halo cracked above your helm.

Shield-maiden,

Angel with axe-edge,

Your braid was winter,

your eyes were battle-fire,

You pulled me from the surf,

My lungs full of salt and drowning.

You laid your shield across my chest,

And whispered in Old Tongue,

"Live.)

Ohhh - You kneeled in the moonlight,

Light upon steel, light upon skin,

Valkyrie, wounded, watching over a wretch like me.

STAY!

Shieldmaiden Angel, stay in the moonlight!

Do not turn your wing from me!

STAY!

If you leave, the dark will take me whole,

Do not leave me in the dark alone!

Do not leave me

- alone - in the dark!

I know what I am -

oath-breaker, kinslayer, lost,

My brothers sailed for Valhalla,

I was left for Hel's cold mouth.

But you - you saw no saga,

Only a man,

shivering, half-dead under your light.

You bound my wounds with linen torn from your own cloak,

Your sword laid down,

Your hand - oh gods - your hand in mine.

Don't go.

The night has teeth.

The forest behind me hungers.

The sea before me calls me back down.

Without your light

- I am nothing

but the dark you found me in.

Three nights you have watched,

Three moons you have bled light upon this rock,

I have learned the line of your jaw,

The scar upon your throat where a spear once kissed an angel.

You speak of the All-Father's war,

Of wings clipped for mercy,

Of choosing me

- of all the dead

- to guard. And now you stand,

you

spread those tattered wings,

The moon is calling you home,

The wind is in your feathers.

NO!

Shieldmaiden Angel, stay in the moonlight!

My moon - my only moon

- do not set!

STAY! If you rise,

the tide will claim me again,

Do not leave me in the dark alone!

Do not leave me - alone - in the dark!

Ó, meyjan skjöldr,

engill nætur - Stay thy flight!

Ó, ljós í myrkri,

blóð ok snjór

- Do not forsake!

I have no hall to offer,

No gold, no crown,

no name worthy of carving,

Only this trembling hand,

Only this

dark that waits to swallow me if you turn away.

So if you must fly

- then take me,

Bind me to your back

with your battle-belt,

Let me

fall with you or rise with you,

Better to burn in your heavens than freeze in my hell.

But if you must leave me...

...leave your shield.

Shieldmaiden...

Angel...

If you must go - leave me your light...

Leave your shield upon my chest,

So the dark knows I was once - loved - in the

moonlight. Do

not...

Leave me...

In the dark...

Alone.

Stay