The Longships
We do not fear the longships, we’ve seen longships before
Men came here from the northlands and hauled their boats ashore
They brought with them their music, their language and their law
Burned their boats and stayed here on our island
It’s midday in the wintertime before the moon goes pale
The winter suns are very long, the storm wind and the gales
The midnight sun’s as distant as the calling of the whale
Till spring returns again to paint our island
The grey seals and the otter, the salmon and the turn
The land bound and the sea trapped and the free birds of the air
The shepherd and the farmer and all those in their care
Harmonise the music of our island
We did not fear the longships until Lord Satûn came
With armies from the planes of death to steal our song away
But one thing that was certain we would fight come what may
Fighting for the freedom of our island
As if the sea had realised the tragedy in store
The seas rose up in anger and before a week or more
Most of his crew were washed away and never reached the shore
And peace returned once more unto our island
So let this be a warning to those whose foolish greed
Will bring them to our shoreline and not our warning heed
The sea is our protector, provider of our needs
The jealous guard and keeper of our island
We do not fear the longships, we’ve seen longships before
Men came here from the northlands and hauled their boats ashore
They brought with them their music, their language and their law
Burned their boats and died here on our island
OOC This song is an Edrejan adaptation of a Ralph McTell song called The Islands (the words are about 3/4 of the way down the page), which is from his album "Sand in your Shoes".
All Works are © Original Author
(OC Author - Ralph McTell)