Hel's Gate

This story tells of a man without honour
He had no reverence for gods on high
At the end of his life death came to greet him
Across the rainbow bridge he would not fly.

Down and north he journeyed forth, the way was cold and dark
Down the trunk of Yggdrasil, his spirit would embark
Past a mighty river made of sharp and clanging steel
Before his eyes his final resting place would be revealed.

Hel's gate stood huge before him
It loomed, an evil sight
Soon he'd be trapped behind it
Right there, he shook with fright.

A crack then opened
That split the stone
The cold of Helheim
Was now his home.

His feet were as iron, he dared not enter
The cold had consumed him, right to his bones
The saw them, more spirits, they did surround him
They urged him, step forward into their fold.

Quivering he took a step into the great beyond
His life then flashed before his eyes, he saw those he had wronged
He'd broken oaths to lord and land, he feared not Odin's wrath
The end result had been his journey on damnation's path.

He stepped across the threshold
Hel's gate now lay behind
Ahead stood his new ruler
With fury in her eyes.

She passed her judgement
He stood there stunned
He would be cast deep
Into Náströnd.

He found himself dragged to the shore of corpses
Níðhöggr forever would eat his flesh
Lay in those frigid wastes, he reminisces
And regrets when he broke his promises.

Níðhöggr descends upon his prone form in the dark
As fearsome eyes flash in the night, the teeth have found their mark
The agony explodes inside his head, behind his eyes
He'll spend eternity forever haunted by his cries.

Náströnd was punishment for
His life of selfish acts
Níðhöggr bites down harder
He feels his lungs collapse.

He just exists now
To feed the beast
The vengeful serpent
Forever feasts.