JETHRO TULL: RökFlöte (2023)

 

1.Voluspo
2.Ginnungagap
3.Allfather
4.The Feathered Consort
5.Hammer on Hammer
6.Wolf Unchained
7.The Perfect One
8.Trickster (and the Mistletoe)
9.Cornucopia
10.The Navigators
11.Guardian's Watch
12.Ithavoll

VOLUSPO

Ek man jötna ár of borna

Þá er forðum mik fædda höfðu

Níu man ek heima, níu íviðjur

Mjötvið mæran fyr mold neðan

Ár var alda, þar er Ymir byggði

Var-a sandr né sær né svalar unnir

Jörð fannsk æva né upphiminn

Gap var ginnunga, en gras hvergi

I remember yet the giants of Yore

Who gave me bread in the days gone by

Nine worlds I knew, the nine in the tree

With mighty roots beneath the mould

Of old was the age when Ymir lived

Sea nor cool waves nor sand, there were

Earth had not been, nor heaven above

But a yawning gap and grass nowhere

GINNUNGAGAP

This first and elemental flesh

Both man and woman falls awake

From void and darkness, frost and flame

From sleeping Ymir, a world to make

The wordless voice, the scream, the howl

Pure essence fills new Earth and Sky

Ancestral form of myth and legend

Giants, Gods, to glorify

Father, Mother, to them all

The bleak betrayal comes to pass

As daughters, sons, bad families

Are cut from stone to break like glass

I dream of spaces, emptiness

Deserts golden, endless dome

Dome of blue with white clouds scudding

Folded origami home

Home to all creation

Vistas of foreign lands. We conjure ghosts

Of pre-birth state, primal recall

The calm amongst the heavenly hosts

ALLFATHER

Allfather, how can we help you?

How can we bring you wondrous notions?

Allfather, how do we read you?

How do we will you godly emotions?

Eye for a lie, tooth for a truth

Hang from the branches, above the well

Nine days pass in the blink of one eye

One eye in heaven, the other in hell

Allfather, learn from the symbols

Born in these waters, a gift for the giving

To others who fawn at the feet of the master

And bathe in the presence, the dead and the living

The heavy door closed with a thud

The vast and book-lined hallowed halls

Sucks me in with endless breath

With steady heartbeats to install me

At the gate of all there is

And all there was, as best we know

From pen to paper, man to child

The gift of learning's afterglow

Afterglow

Afterglow

Allfather

THE FEATHERED CONSORT

Feathered consort, woven fronds maternal

Silken, shining, light the day

With her whispered promises of passion

Fertile joining, fashioned clay

Like distant Venus, so seductive

Smoothing her scent on boys and men

To make them whole and leave them smiling

Thinking of her now and then

They raise her up to sit at heaven's portal

To suckle babes, ripen anew

While second self, the sultry Frеya

Rides behind her cats, grеy and blue

Wicked diva, cool mug-magnet

The sulky, saucy temptress lights

Another lip-stained cigarette

And turns her face to show the whites

Of eyes like torches, piercing, steely

Thin, grey smoke, a coiling plume

Paris showgirl, headdress cast

Aside in tawdry dressing room

HAMMER ON HAMMER

Was there a time when I was Jupiter

Ringed like Saturn, with sacred belt?

Anvil sweating under blows

Hammer on hammer, cold steel to smelt

Coiled serpent, silently waiting

Takes the bait I place beneath

The darkened deeps so far from shore

Line cut, dagger to sheath

Stage must be set for mortal battle

Völva prophesy fufilled

At Ragnarök, gory conclusion:

Drowning world to raise, rebuild

Vlad, the bad, seethes and schemes

An empire past he must renew

Tough man in waiting, stares at me

At White Nights, 1992

Sabres rattle, pipelines tremble

Wasted opportunity

To build a better motherland

A nobler place in history

The darkened deeps so far from shore

Line cut, dagger to sheath

Stage must be set for mortal battle

Völva prophesy fufilled

At Ragnarök, gory conclusion:

Drowning world to raise, rebuild

Was there a time when I was Jupiter

Ringed like Saturn, with sacred belt?

WOLF UNCHAINED

From out the marsh with jaws agape

And angry howls, the wolf does run

All set to roam and havoc make

Amongst the nine worlds of the sun

But soft as silk, strong fetters fixed

To calm, restrain the rage awhile

Invite the hand between sharp teeth

To prove good faith, to reconcile

The bond unbroken, trickery

Could not prevent the savage bite

And free at last with jaws against

The ground and sky, the final fight

Curled at my feet in sleep, Tervueren

Malinois or Groenendael

A shepherd's friend, unfеttered loyalty

Sweet devotion natural

Drеaming of a wilder past

A wilder bark, the howl, the growl

Soft limb to tear and bone to grind

The postman corpse to disembowel

THE PERFECT ONE

He smiles, beguiles, and occupies

A perfect placid sacred space

Enthrals all those who gaze, admire

And, fascinated, beg his grace

Bold but blessed with calm resists

Well armoured, turns aside all harm

Directed at his sweet perfection

Bathed in gentle lights to charm

All but one who, seizing

Opportunity, devises dark

And cunning deed to snuff the candle

Put an end to vital spark

Ken and Joe, Joe and Andy

Frank and George, and Joe and Trav

Fatal friends, fatal attraction

To a rough Adonis, havе

A dark, sad commonality

All hero worship, bit of rough

Frail bond to stretch to breaking point

A point distillеd from stronger stuff

TRIKSTER (AND THE MISTLETOE)

What is this spear of mistletoe

That flies like dart from brother's hand?

Seemed innocent, a prank misfired

The great shapeshifter, fire-brand

Two-faced fool, the jester bold

Grasps at opportunities

To turn his coat, self-satisfy

And go wherever he might please

Little giant, skin so thick

Can hold the fate of all his kin

With treachery, duplicity

Behind the wide, engaging grin

The class clown sits in back of class

Throws paper darts, blot paper balls

To bounce off heads of swots like me

Provokе a fight when lunch break calls

His tiresomе japes, the prods and pokes

The never-lasting friendships made

Bring only our feigned approval

Soon resigned to trusts betrayed

CORNUCOPIA

The barley grows and ripened, feeds

The hungry souls who toil and sweat

They gather to give thanks and praise

For wealth and peace, repay the debt

I make for them a bounty

To reward the pains of honest men

Ask only for their loyal faith

In planting seeds to sprout again

My sister joins the happy throng

To dance and sing with all who care

To lie with her in soft repose

Gold diadem in golden hair

Summer sounds of combine wheezing

On the top fields, by the lane

Which winds down rutted tracks to sleepy

Barns, the dryer for thе grain

Farmer eyes fixеd on the headlands

Dazzled by the dipping sun

Which lights the corners of her eyes

The farmer's wife, we lie as one

THE NAVIGATORS

Feet fixed firm on windswept headland

Far above the raging sea

Lord of all the stormy deeps

The wealth of ages at his knee

Protects and nurtures navigators

Raiders bold who loot and plunder

Giving strength to hold at bay

The tallest wave, the savage thunder

Then, to bring them home again

Safe to revel in their fame

With tales of valour, harsh and virile

Treasures taken in Gods' names

Crab pots stacked, fat diesel straining

At the white and foam-flecked wave

Echo sounding, seaman rounding

Dark mull skirts a watery grave

Which calls to lure brave navigators

Who venture far from harbour home

Burning with that lust of feisty

Fisher-folk who live to roam

Feet fixed firm on windswept headland

Far above the raging sea

Lord of all the stormy deeps

The wealth of ages at his knee

Protects and nurtures navigators

Raiders bold who loot and plunder

Giving strength to hold at bay

The tallest wave, the savage thunder

Then, to bring them home again

Safe to revel in their fame

With tales of valour, harsh and virile

Treasures taken in Gods' names

GUARDIAN'S WATCH

The Guardian stands above the plain

Surveys the path to rainbow bridge

Keen-eyed stares t'wards middle world

From high upon that castle ridge

With trumpet drawn to warn of first

Approach of those who might intrude

He hears the sound of grass a-growing

Senses keen, a quiet étude

Before the giants come to call

The rage of final battle locked

With flaming sword and serpent venom

Revelation, Ragnarök

Mae West, helmet, Mk VIII goggles

'Chute at ready on the wing

Young men sprint to action, answer

Jarring scramble bell's harsh ring

Gear up, climbing, Merlin roaring

Bandits one-five, sounds the cry

Chime of destiny sends aloft

Virgin guardians of the sky

ITHAVOLL

Sé ek upp koma öðru sinni

Jörð ór ægi iðjagræna

Falla forsar, flýgr örn yfir

Sá er á fjalli fiska veiðir

Finnask Æsir á Iðavelli

Ok um moldþinur máttkan dæma

Ok minnask þar á megindóma

Ok á Fimbultýs fornar rúnar

Þar munu eptir undrsamligar

Gullnar tö ur í grasi nnask

Þærs í árdaga áttar höfðu

Now do I see the Earth anew

Rise all green from the waves again

The cataracts fall and the eagle flies

And catches fish beneath the cliffs

The gods in Ithavoll meet together

In wondrous beauty once again

Shall golden tables stand mid the grass

Which the gods have owned in the days of old