The Circle Holds

Old stones remember… Names in earth… Blood was given… …and the clans were called… At Deismaar the sky was torn, Fire fell and gods were shorn— Blood like rain on iron ground, And in that storm, our fate was found. No king rode north to claim that day, No southern hand to shape our way— The clans returned to root and name, And gathered slow through ash and flame. Through broken shields and salted field, The old ones spoke, the land revealed— Not one shall rise to rule alone… But stand where every voice is known. The circle holds, no voice denied, The Druids stand at every side— Each clan a branch, one root we keep, By Erik’s word, our oaths run deep. They came with wolves upon their shields, From frozen coasts and inland fields— From forest dark and wind-cut stone, Each clan to stand, but not alone. No man bent knee, no voice was chained, The High Druids called, the silence reigned— They marked the ground, they raised the ring, Where none would kneel, yet all would bring. By root and river, bone and sky, They named the truth none could deny— A jarl not born, but chosen then… To stand as first among all men. The circle holds, no voice denied, The Druids stand at every side— Each clan a branch, one root we keep, By Erik’s word, our oaths run deep. Then Wjulf stood where all could see, Not crowned in gold, but chosen free— No throne of stone, no iron decree, But bound by oath and memory. The Druids spoke, the wind fell still, The land itself bent to their will— “Not lord above, nor hand that binds— But voice that carries all our minds.” Erik hears in root and rain, In turning year, in loss and gain— No oath is light, no word is small, The land remembers… keeps them all. Keeps them all… keeps them all… The circle holds, no voice denied, The Druids stand at every side— Each clan a branch, one root we keep, By Erik’s word, our oaths run deep. Hogunmark from oath was made, Not by sword, nor fear, nor blade— But hand in hand, and word in earth, A people bound in chosen worth. One root… One word… …forever heard.