[Act I: The Death of Balder]
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Autumn came to an end
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And the first snow began to fall
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Balder's face was clouded
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The dreams of warning had called
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His mother sought oaths
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From all this below the sky
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To not to hurt her son
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To not to let him die
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Balder stood there encircled by gods
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Thrown with stones, spears and hit
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With sword
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No damage they had caused, not a wound
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In jealousy Loki disguised to find
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Why there was no harm
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The mother told him that all the things
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On the earth
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Had sworn an oath not to harm nor
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Kill her son
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'All? ', he asked and then she told him
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That only one was too young to swear
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And mistletoe was the one
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So Loki went across the frosted land
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To an ancient tree where mistletoe grew
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He cut off a piece and
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Returned to the plain
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Where gods were still enjoying their game
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Loki saw Hodur the Blind sitting
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Outside the ring watching
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The god's game
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Loki gave him the twig and offered
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To guide his hand
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Pleased Hodur stepped forth
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And threw the twig across the plain
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It hit Balder's chest piercing
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His bright body and he fell
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Onto the ground in blood
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The laughter and the joy ceased
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When Balder's blood spilled
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On the pure snow of Asg¢Órd
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[Act II: A Farewell to the Son of Odin]
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Balder was set into his ship
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And there he laid cold
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With his wife beside him
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On his breast were all his possessions
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Placed carefully
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As the ceremony began
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The sun sank low over the icy sea
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Two ravens circled
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In the clear blue sky
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Singing their sadness
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Thor raised his hammer
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And blessed the pyre
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Waves carried the ship far to the sea
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There it burnt bright high
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Against the darkening sky
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Odin stood... tears falling from his eyes
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[Act III: Hermod's Ride to Hel]
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Through dark howling valleys
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Of wind swept desolation
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Hermod rode alone
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Towards the land of death
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Sleipnir's hooves in fire
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Nine days, nine nights
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Hermod rode to Hel
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On the farthest shore of Gjoll he came
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The bridge keeper waited Modgud
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Her name
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He asked for the release of Balder
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His brother
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She recalled and showed him the path
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Into the dark
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Hermod arrived to the palace
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At the Hel's table among the dead
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He found his brother sitting
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Hermod told Balder
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He had come to take him to Asg¢Órd
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That night they sat
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Chatting and recalling past times
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He went to Hel and begged her
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For Balder's release
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Telling her that all mourned
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For his decease
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She promised, if all things weeped
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For him
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He'd be free to return
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Through the valleys so dim
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Hermod returned and told the gods
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What Hel had said
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So messengers were sent to
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All over the world
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And all the world wept
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For their Balder beloved
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Only one old woman refused:
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'Let Hel keep what she had'
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[Act IV: The Bounding of Loki]
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Soon the gods found
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That old woman was Loki
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Revenge they swore
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And begin to hunt him
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Loki spent days as a salmon in waters
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Or as himself in a house
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Once the gods found Loki hiding
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In a river
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When he jumped to escape
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Thor caught him into his fist
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The gods took him to a deep cavern
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With his sons
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One day changed into a wolf
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And the wolf devoured other son's body
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The gods took his intestines
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And with them bound Loki to rocks
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Skadi hung a snake above Loki's head
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Venom dripping into his mouth
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So great was the pain
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That when Loki writhed
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All th worlds shook and trembled...
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[Act V: The Final Battle]
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After Balder's death
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The gods withdrew from the earth
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Evil spread and Fimbulvetr arrived
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Battles raged all over
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The wolves rose
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One devoured the sun
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One the moon
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Stars fell crushing onto the earth
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Fenris broke his chains
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Midgard heaved his body
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Drowned the land in waves
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Washed the battlefields bloody
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Giants marched
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Fenris approached
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Gjallarhorn's alarm
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Echoed in the air
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The armies of dead marched
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Lead by Loki the avenger
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The battlefield of Vigrid
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Will soon bathe in blood
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Odin rushed
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With a spear in his hand
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Behind him came
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The heroes of Valhalla
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And the battle began
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God against giant
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And giant against god
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The brave armies clashed
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After a long battle
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Both giants and gods
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Laid on the grou |