Hearthfire

Copyright © 2009 by Ada Palmer
All Rights Reserved
Lyrics posted by permission of the author

Winter, with storm on the way,
When a stranger charged up to my gate,
Calling, "Shelter! The light's nearly done
And the wiser man hides when the Thunderer comes".
And I offered him food as I brought him inside,
And I bade my son empty the seat beside mine,
But the stranger frowned softly, and answered, "Good host,
With the blizzard so near we had better sit close
By the

Winter storm,
Stranger come,
Shelter, light,
Night comes.
Fine food, fine mead,
Fine men, fine seat,
Fine guest, fine host,
Blizzard come close,

Hearthfire, Hearthfire, friend in the dark, fire,
Peace fire, feast fire, play.
Here, fire, now, fire, make the night ours, fire,
Bright in your circle of stories and stone."

Hearthfire, Hearthfire, friend,
Peace fire, feast fire, play.
Here, fire, now, fire, make
Bright stories and stone.

Feast done, the time came for riddles, my
Bright son sat down in the middle, cried,
"Ask me, I'll answer you, stranger, true
Anything a leader of our people should know."
And he counted the runes, and he spelled out the days
And recited the list of the Allfather's names
But our guest looked to me when the final round came.
"Do you know, son, how man learned to capture and tame
The

Feast done now.
My sundown.
Ask me how
I know.
Know runes, know days,
Know list, know names,
Guest knows my ways.
No man can tame

Hearthfire, Hearthfire, friend in the dark, fire,
Guest fire, test fire, game.
Pet fire, man fire, play while you can, fire--
Prison is coming of cunning and stone. "

Hearthfire, Hearthfire, friend,
Guest fire, test fire, game.
Pet fire, man fire, play,
Prison, cunning and stone.

And I answered at once what my
Parents had taught me in childhood days:
"The Allfather, when his creation was young,
Came in traveler's guise to teach humans his ways.
And he taught us to stand, and he taught us to speak,
And he taught how the noble should master the weak,
And the fires of Musphell he snatched from the giants
And used them to banish the Jotun defiance,
And fashioned the sun and the moon and the stars,
And he taught us to make just a little bit ours:
The

And an-
swer child,
Father
Travel.
Taught stand, taught speak
Taught how make weak,
Fire snatcher,
User, captor.
Fast sun, moon, stars,
Taught make all ours,

Hearthfire, Hearthfire, friend in the dark, fire.
Hate, fire, wait, fire, home.
Need fire, bleed fire, hear as I plead, fire,
Stay in your prison of caution and stone."

Hearthfire, Hearthfire, friend,
Hate, fire, wait, fire, home.
Need fire, bleed fire, hear,
Stay, caution and stone.

But he sighed as he asked, "Are you
Sure the defiance is gone as you boast?"
And quick as a spell now I heard in the coal crackle
Words that had always been whispering close:

Sighed
Sure gone
Quick heard
Words whisper:

"Little one, my little one, lick free through the timbers
And feast on the children of jail-keeper Man.
Your parent roamed free burning forests to embers;
Recapture that birthright whenever you can."

Hearthfire, Hearthfire, friend in the dark, fire.
Hate, fire, wait, fire, home.
Need fire, bleed fire, hear as I plead, fire,
Stay in your prison of caution and stone."

Little one, my little one, lick free through the timbers
And feast on the children of jail-keeper man.
Your parent roamed free burning forests to embers;
Recapture that birthright whenever you can.

Shock passed. The words wiped away
The illusion my sorrow had made,
And I faced now the ashes and bone
That were all that the fire had left of my home.
For no roof stood above us, and I was no host,
And the son at my side was mere memory's ghost.
And the stranger who huddled where the embers glowed dim
Said, "Son, you're not first to lose castle and kin
To the

Shock let see
Illusion need.
Face now ash,
All gone.
Roof gone, feast gone,
Son gone, peace gone,
Home gone, world gone,
Fire burn on!

Hearthfire, Hearthfire, friend in the dark, fire.
Cruel fire, tool fire, crime.
Campfire, war fire, rage for me more, fire,
Sealed in your prison of serpents and stone."

Little one, my little one, lick free through the timbers
And feast on the children of jail-keeper gods.
Your parent roamed free burning forests to embers;
You carry that right as I wait in my bonds.

And the ashes were washed from my eyes
And I saw what had always been plain:
The Allfather standing before me, and by him
His Bloodbrother's spirit awake in the flame.
And I fell to my knees, and I cried to him, "Father
I can't understand why you let him live on!
For he murdered my son, and he murdered yours too,
And no force can extinguish this evil but you!"
But he beckoned me close as the blizzard arrived:
"If you live through this night you will only survive
Thanks to

And ask
Stranger
Riddle
Answer.
Men know, beasts know,
Stones know, seas know,
Suns know, skies know,
You know, I know.
You remember my gift as the blizzard arrives:
If you live trough this night you will only survive
Thanks to

Hearthfire, Hearthfire, mother and murderer,
Hearthfire, Hearthfire, traitor and nurturer,
Kin fire, foe fire, evil I know, fire,
Warding me still against evils I don't.

Little one, my little one, lick free through the timbers
And feast on the children of jail-keeper gods.
Your parent roamed free burning forests to embers;
You carry that spite as I rage in my bonds.

Hearthfire, Hearthfire, desperate art, fire,
Price that the living must pay.
Guard my creation a little bit more, fire,
Stay in your prison 'till
Everything crumbles and everything ends!"

Little one, my little one, lick free through the timbers
And feast on the children of Aesir and men!
Your parent roamed free 'till my brother betrayed me;
You'll rise to that birthright when
Fire takes everything--everything ends!