What lies beyond the Veil

[JWagner]

Beneath the tree where worlds entwine,
There flowed a spring, both deep and fine
In shadowed hush, it ever slept,
By Mimir’s watchful eye was kept

The elders told in song and lore,
Its waters held the mystic core
To drink them was to truly know,
What lies beneath, above, below

Each dawn, the giant Mimir came,
To sip the source, to speak no name
His wisdom grew with every draught,
By time and thought was knowledge wrought

But Odin, lord of gods and men,
Felt fear within his heart again
What fate may bring, what storms may rise
He sought the well with silent guise

He cloaked himself in shadow’s fold,
In hat and hood against the cold
“What must I pay?” he asked the seer,
“To taste the hidden water here?”

The giant’s voice was calm and slow:
“One eye, Allfather, you must stow
For deepest sight, the price is steep
What’s given once, you do not keep”

“To see what lies beyond the veil,
Where gold is dust and kings are frail
No coin can buy what truth will show,
But one lost eye, and you shall know.”

He gave the eye - no word, no cry
And dropped it in the well to lie
Then Mimir poured the draught so bright,
And Odin drank the horn upright

Then all at once, his mind was clear
He saw the threads of brave and fear
The past, the now, the years to come,
He heard a distant battle drum

Though wisdom came, the weight was great
He saw the cracks in every fate
Yet still he stood, with steady breath
To guard the world of birth and death

[JWagner]

Set to music: https://youtu.be/_BLGl2cSaMI