Language of the Birds

Dipped my finger in the language of the birds and tasted blood
I got my worm
Hiding in my hole underneath the road, with all the mud and flies, holding my spear
I could taste its iron in my mouth

Oh, the point went in so easily, with scarcely a jar
And its body hung above me like the night sky filled with stars
And the blood came pouring down
Blueblack blood covering me from my toes up to my crown

I will, I will be king; now that I'm a rich man I can have anything
I will, I will be king; now that I'm a rich man I can have anything except peace

I went down to the river to bathe myself and spear
A clod between my shoulderblades, between my joys and fears
Walking down the highway, tarbaby to the dust
Looking forward to the time they'd call me Sigurðr the Just...
When my hand slipped on the haft of my spear
But the point, it could not cut me, to my wonder and my fear

I washed that black blood off me to find that underneath
Oh my skin was hard as diamonds are, and just as tricky to release

But I will, I will be king; now that I'm a rich man I can have anything
I will, I will be king; now that I'm a rich man
I can have anything, anything, anything except peace

Well, I went back to the carcass to have myself some lunch
Must've wasted near an hour trying to slice myself a haunch
So I reached into his mouth
I dug my diamond fingers in and I ripped the tongue right out

I cooked that fat baby on the hottest part of my fire
Gave it a prod with my thumb to see if it could do with being done a little more
But that hot sucker burnt my thumb!
Quick as a salmon, I stuck it in my mouth, just as my eyes started to run...

All the trees surrounding me, full of birds, began to whisper deep inside my ears
They said
'Regin is a-lying there, a-laying plans
There ever is a wolf where I spy his ears'

I could taste the iron in my mouth

Oh the point went in so easy, with scarcely a jar
And Regin's body lay below me with two bloody open mouths

And I will, I will be king
But not for long enough to enjoy anything
I will, I will be king
Rich in enemies and poor in everything, in everything else