Some believe that the earth has a will
And every stone and tree and hill
Has a mind and a heart and claims a place
In the universe for its own space
Some of these spirits are humble and small
And we're not aware of their presence at all
They spend their days in perpetual quiet
Patiently waiting out wind and riot
But the story is told of a kraken asleep
Who in the last days will rise from the deep
Tentacles of fire circle the earth
At the bottom of the ocean of it's ancient birth
It feeds the volcanos and stirs the storm
From its heart crawl creatures of every form
In sleep it is the keeper of life eternal
Awaking becomes the destroyer infernal
On the eastern shore of this land long ago
Was seen a strange creature moving slow
From the point where the sea meets the churning sky
Though it sat on the water it seemed to fly
It appeared to be feathered with a snake's head
On billowed wings across the water it fled
When a powerful tide pulled it into a cove
It could not clear the point, the current drove
It into a shoal where it crashed on the stones
It cracked and splintered like broken bones
Then from the back of this huge broken thing
Came a creature who looked like a human being
He jumped to the rocks and roared aloud
Others like him followed in a crowd
They walked upright but were covered with hair
And they roared when they spoke like a dog or a bear
They climbed to the shore and there they all stood
And the thing on the rocks was a ship made of wood
The trees there that had never known a blade
Would not have believed there could be made
From their far away cousins lap fitted boards
With copper rivets and rawhide cords
The planks fit like feathers to a high risen bow
With a serpents head carved from the curve of the prow
They left that ship to rot where it lay
And they camped on the shore for many a day
Until another ship approached from the south
Cleared the cove and anchored at its mouth
The shipwrecked sailors were taken aboard
And they weighed anchor and set off toward
The north and east through the waves and foam
Continuing on the long trip home
Leif had left home months before that day
To work in the Royal Guard of Norway
In the reign of Olaf Tryggvarson
Who thought highly of Leif and sent him on
To teach Christian ways to his own family
The king wished him luck as he set to sea
Leif said he would need a king's luck then
But they called him The Lucky when he rescued those men
They all spent that winter in Brattahlid
He was wise and generous in all that he did
He spoke of the gentle Christ to all
And many heard and answered the call
Of Salvation and the True Path
But his father Eric was filled with wrath
Leif's mother Thjodhild built a church nearby
Spending her time there she would defy
Her husband Eric and his pagan ways
She would not sleep with him the rest of her days
Now there was a new land to be explored
Thorvald was first to sail out of the fjord
Toward the rich coast of Vinland that spring
To find what fortune that new land might bring
They built their camp and then saw on the beach
Three skin canoes with three men under each
They fell on the natives with such surprise
Eight were dead before they could rise
The last one escaped in a boat out to sea
This was a sign of the things that would be
This was the first time these people had met
And the first blood that flowed and it hasn't stopped yet
The native returned with his friends and they fought
Leif's brother Thorvald was killed in that spot
His crew returned home and his brother Thorstein
Attempted the crossing but no land was seen
Thorfinn Karlsefni was a rich man
He built a colony and had a plan
To live in peace and honest trade
With the native friends they made
The People wanted one reward
To learn the secret of the sword
But the northmen would make no deal
To trade away their precious steel
One day a native did intend
To take a sword and met his end
And what would this world look like now
If they had learned that secret somehow?
So another fight began
In the end the northmen ran
Leif's sister Freydis hungered for
The wealth that flowed from that rich shore
She crossed the sea and then betrayed
Those with whom a deal she'd made
In their sleep she had them killed
So her greedy heart was filled
That was the last, the sagas say
Of Greenlanders to sail this way
The People were left in peace at last
Until five hundred years had passed
But there's a story left untold
Forgotten by the bards of old
How Leif became so frustrated
By the crimes of those related
Most closely to him that he decided
To pick a crew and once more guided
A stout new ship with a christian crew
Only the hardiest sailors who knew
That the love of Christ was the only sword
To fight the battles of their Lord
Past the barren Helluland
To where the beaches turned to sand
Passing Markland's hills and trees
And Vinland's abandoned colonies
Past the mountain they called Hop
Here they knew they could not stop
Because they were well aware
Of the greeting they'd find there
Slowed by a northward current's force
The offshore winds kept them on course
Past inlets and waterways
Where a ship could get lost for days
By now the summer was far gone
Yet still the long days' sun burned on
Where swamps reached so far inland
They could not see where dry earth began
And hiding in the salty grass
Dragons crept to watch them pass
Finally the coastline swept
Off to the west and still they kept
The shore close on the starboard beam
They felt they'd sailed into a dream
As the sky turned white overhead
They followed where the coastline led
A winter storm rose and drove them west
They reefed the sail and did their best
To keep their ship well out to sea
And watched for islands in their lee
But when the storm had cleared the air
They could not see land anywhere
For days that warm east wind held true
There was nothing they could do
Except to follow where it led
Until they were safe or dead
On a different eastern shore
According to the ancient lore
Where all year long the sun was bright
And the people dressed in white
Where a great city had grown
With huge temples made of stone
From the ocean came a sign
A figure of the most Divine
The story has been handed down
Of a feathered snake that came aground
A prophet of all things that are good
Of love and peace and brotherhood
Who condemned ritual sacrifice
For this he had to pay a price
Back to the sea he was sent away
And promised to return someday
The Mejica built an empire in that land
They kept the stories of old close at hand
And their priests knew the the day when the new age was due
And nobody mourned when the empire was through
It may be the People have Plato to thank
Who claimed the western continent sank
But if it was fear keeping the tyrants at bay
It was faith that carried them back to stay
And you who are waiting for heaven's retreat
Would you recognize paradise under your feet?
I doubt we would learn if the lesson was told
We who so eagerly forget all that's old
How the Kraken will rise when it wakes in the deep
As salvation will come to wake us in our sleep
And hope lives for those who are willing to fail
As the feathered serpent returns on a sail
