Only the Strong

from Greatest Saga by Winterblade

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about

Even as a Christian, King Olaf of Norway was unrecognizable by today's standards. Instead of compassion, he favored violence as a method of spreading his faith. No example of this is stronger than the unfortunate fate of a man named Raud the Strong.

Raud was a Seiðr priest who specialized, as such priests did, in the occult and bizarre. But he was best-known for his longship, sometimes referred to as The Serpent. Raud faced off against Olaf in a sea battle, and Olaf's men gained the upper hand. After chasing his defeated enemy across the waters, the Christian King forced his captives, including Raud, to convert.

When the Seiðr priest refused, Olaf ordered a cruel and unusual method of torture: a living snake was to be forced into Raud's mouth. They propped open his jaw and coaxed the snake in by feeding it through a drinking horn, poking it with a hot iron to keep the real-life serpent in motion.

Raud was soon torn apart from within his own throat by the poor reptile, and earned his nickname "The Strong" because he never betrayed the Old Gods, even in his immense suffering.

lyrics

Seized him in the night
A man who’s not a man
His sacred magic rites
Can’t save him from my plan

Took him by the throat
Threw him on his knees
Give up the ways of old
And I can set you free

The snakes inside my heart
The same inside your mouth
Only the strong can take this now

Your body ripped apart
There’s only one way out
Only the strong die bravely now

The iron flaming hot
The animal retreats
The quiet suffering stops
The scales between your teeth

Pray that I am wrong
Wandering in the dark
That you should be atoned
Your misery forgot

I feel the snakes inside my heart
The same inside your mouth
Only the strong can take this now

Your body ripped apart
There’s only one way out
Only the strong die bravely now

credits

from Greatest Saga, released September 9, 2020

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about

Winterblade Washington, D.C.

Winterblade is one man with a passion for the Old Norse Æsir and heavy metal. Those passions are combined on the album "Long Nights," a project rooted in Viking history and often drawn from historical texts. Just released: GREATEST SAGA, the 11-part story of how Norway's first king rose to power in the most unusual way... ... more