Hail the glorious dead

[Balthier]

Upon the fields where golden sunlight weaves,

The fallen stand in halls of endless light,

Beyond the turning of the autumn leaves,

They toast to honor, shielded from the night.

With scars of valor worn like cloaks of pride,

They wait in Odin’s keep for final call,

Where heroes rest, forever side by side,

Within the rafters of the sacred hall.

Though ages fade and mortal seasons wane,

Their names are etched in silence and in song,

A testament to battles faced in pain,

And spirits resolute, defiant, strong.

We pause beneath the banner’s steady fold,

To whisper thanks for lives so freely cast,

In stories carved in memory and gold,

To hold the echoes of a noble past.

So raise a glass to those who guard the gate,

The chosen warriors of the ancient fray,

Who mastered fear and dared to challenge fate,

To carve a path for us to walk today.

Their vigil knows no setting of the sun,

A brotherhood that time cannot divide,

Until the cycle of the world is done,

They watch the hearth of freedom, glorified.

 

-Dedicated to those who did not return from Kunar province.  

All hail, the Einherjar!