(©Brothers Grimm 1990)

In a distant past - Third Age
Where kin-strife raged
Ninth King of the Mark brought to bay
Forced to retreat, the prince is dead

The besieged, stricken by
Endless foes and bitter cold
King Helm suffered the Long Winter
Secreted in his mountain fastness, Hama perished
Once again the prince is dead

Mourning the loss of heir, apparent and presumptor
He ventures out to breath his vengeance, take his revenge
A subtle lack of shadows, on moonless nights
(Plays host to his indulgence)

On a vast sea of white
Dark, unknowing subject awaits disfigurement
Invisible and clad in white an heirless king
sends sleeping silent victim to a faceless grave

Silver, silver, silver plagues my skin
With no pretense of exhaustion
To the agonizing melancholy
Effect and mundane droning

A sound of tainted violence
(Called forth from light wounds)
Deeper than a canyon
Aristocratic by name

Betrayed by honesty
Poured to empty wells
All for the dogma of self clarity

The whispering reality
Becomes as strong as faith in glass
Tainted further by the last breath of my last son
(I sleep for thee)

Comments
Artist Comment: "The whole point of the song was to try and see the whole thing from the perspective of King Helm. I'm sure you are familiar with the LOTR legend of Helm and his death, but the first part of the song talks about Helm's flight across the river where his eldest son died. Then it moves to the initial siege at Helm's Deep and again, the death of his second son Hama, (hence the line 'Once again the prince is dead')

"Then it moves to the darker part of the legend. King Helm, suffering from the death of his two sons and driven slightly mad by it, would sneak out of the fortress and move among the enemy, randomly killing sentries and anyone else he could, leaving them to be found in the morning.

"The last part tries to imagine what Helm was thinking as he looked out from the fortress the night before he was found dead, frozen, still standing. (silver was supposed to be the ice...)

"I always loved the acoustic guitar at the end. Dennis' idea when he wrote that was that it gave the impression of ice melting or dripping and of the sadness of Helm's death." [contributed by Bruce Arnold]