Charlemagne: The Omens of Death

The signs were there, whereever I looked, only I could not see them... Obscured by my zeal, by my beliefs, each and every one was a marker Of my destiny as the chosen one - As defender of Faith and the leader of men. But it all came at a great price, as all great kings, I became a great killer - Lombardi, Verden, Roncevaux Pass... It all ended in death and destruction! These were Omens The Omens of Death!

Submitted by NecroLord — Apr 26, 2025

Einhard gather near... come hither to my bedside The hour that I must retire is drawing ever near From the exigencies of this life My deeds laid out before your eyes And my conscience must be clear. Charles my dear son the time has now come The House of Arnulf had produced the heir and son To lead the faithless where we are all waiting for you now In the eternal kingdom where we at last are one. Finally you can look back upon your many great deeds Like your fathers before you have been planted the seeds The consummation of your ancestors' ambitions The founding of a great empire of Christian nations. Father, this oath I swear that I shall fight to keep the Lord In all of Francia and beyond To heathen fields and Saxon hordes Who would tread upon a sacred place of ours? Shall learn to fear the name of Charlemagne One that will be without peer even long after I have gone Charlemagne, oh Charlemagne A shaft of light in a Dark Age For now he is the King of the Franks Standing tall above men of all ranks Homage and tribute to him will pay And all his enemies shall be cast away 'Cause now he has inherited the throne The young prince who soon came into his own. Carloman, my dear brother, we grew apart But my love for you did not depart. You let the plotters turn your head against me And then... oh father! Now he is dead... How his widow and children weep by his bed Now I am ruler of all your empire And I am... alone in the adventure But you came to me, father, I feel not on my own And guided me on my sword As sure as on my throne. And now you are being besieged by the Saracen, But holding firm are the Christian Kings of Spain The Frankish might pushed them back south 'Cross the mountains to form the Spanish March. And what of the other pagan tribes Who disrespected His Holy See? They knelt before him and gave back that Which they had taken from The Holy City.

Submitted by MetalElf — Apr 26, 2025

My Lord King Charles A state of crisis has emerged For you've incurred the wrath Of the Lombard King Desiderius Cast his daughter aside And took another for your wife He has taken offence And it's too late to make amends Our papal lands Have been occupied by force And fallen to the hands Of the barbarian horde For too long that vile race Has remained a threat To papal authority That scheming Lombard King Is flouting his debt wilfully We must stand up and wage war This has gone on for too long It's in all of our interests to subdue them Once and for all My Lord and Holy Father This I pledge to thee Like my fathers before me I shall fight for the Holy City My Lord and Holy Father I pledge thee my loyalty I shall see this Holy City Restored to its former glory It has been three hundred years Since 'cross the Alps came Those faithless lepers To usurp the lands Of their peace-loving neighbours Encroaching closer upon Rome Their leaders wanted to Capture it for their own And now King Desiderius Has started to harass us Your father was a champion of the Church An agent of civilisation in the western world Chosen to lead the people to the cross The time is once more upon us To look to our old friends As your fathers before you Came to our defence And you are/I a am the chosen one To lead the faithless to the cross In His Empire in the west O'er the Lord's flock you/I keep the watch And with the authority vested in me I shall claim the Iron Crown of Lombardy Come springtime The last of the alpine blasts had blown The franks are still encamped By the banks of the river Po The son of Desiderius to Byzantium had flown The banks of the river Po Are swelled by the melting snows

Does a man have to fight all his life? Only in death to take flight to the skies Warmongers vie to take my throne No respect is ever shown To Pope, or Prince, nor man, nor beast And steal our cattle for to feast No Earthly princeling mind shall take For scandalous idolatry so fake In borderland raids They came in their hordes Ransacking villages Taking the spoils With nothing to lose and possessions few Bold Sturdy Fearless and cruel! Defiant of Baptism on pain of death Tough measures call for me to be ruthless To set an example to the rebels Draconian for their worship of devils How many times did I venture forth To the extreme wilderness of the north? To subdue those whose hatred was great Against churches and priests of our Christian state Four thousand men all dead in one day They would not renounce their heathen ways Thirty years of campaigning consumed To subject those Pagans to Christianhood The Bloody Verdict of Verden Rivers flowing red With the blood of four thousand men That I did behead (I shed Blood of Saxon Men) I shed the Blood of the Saxon men I shed the Blood of the Saxon men I shed the Blood of the Saxon men I shed it at Verden I shed the Blood of the Saxon men I shed the Blood of four thousand Saxon men I shed the Blood of the Saxon men I shed the Blood of the Saxon man! Shall my realm be taken as I toil? To force others out of Frankish soil And I return to learn that all is lost Yet my companions I trust, the sword and the Cross Those good industrious Frankish folk Who toil out lands with oxen and yoke Whilst Lombard, Vulgar and Moorish men Dare to even glance at them Converting entire tribes by the sword In the name of Jesus Christo, our Lord On that day in Verden No mercy given Victory to the chosen people Weary grow I of this task which fell On the shoulders of a man who yearns to spend But one hour with wife and child To gaze on faces innocent and mild Four thousand men all dead in one day They would not renounce their heathen ways Thirty years of campaigning consumed To subject those pagans to Christianhood To build a better world than even has been seen An empire made great by deeds of great kings (I shed Blood of Saxon Men) I shed the Blood of the Saxon men I shed the Blood of the Saxon men I shed the Blood of the Saxon men I shed it at Verden I shed the Blood of the Saxon men I shed the Blood of four thousand Saxon men I shed the Blood of the Saxon men I shed the Blood of the Saxon man!

Submitted by Warbringer — Apr 26, 2025

The time has come Fortune and my reign will shine Like the starts in the sky Over lands and the sea Your power is assured You are king oh Charlemagne To fight for the right to conquer And vanquish your foes Come, let's drink to the time When peace and the sun will shine And the world will be, as one, forever My destiny Rides out before me Like a cloud in the sky It travels afar All men shall pay thee The homage and dues to come To prepare the way For a better world Charlemagne, Charlemagne Charlemagne, your kingdoms Are there for all to see The power and the glory are your destiny The dawning of a new age Will shine just like a star Yours will be a world of lands Both here now and afar No castle, no keep, nor wall Shall stand in my way, now No river too deep to be crossed No ocean too wide The light of your star Shall never fade nor die Your time has come You are king of all you survey Charlemagne, Charlemagne Charlemagne

Submitted by Finntroll — Apr 26, 2025

When I pass from this world to the next When I am laid and my soul is put to rest My legacy will be there for all to see For how long after I am gone will my deeds outlive me? The apostle says we must all appear before our Christ To judge my place in the world, the way I framed my life 'Tis a fearful thing to fall into god's hands Only he who repents shall pass into the heavenly lands When all the deeds of my life are played before my eyes Will what I see come as a great surprise? Life is short the hour of death uncertain I must confess my sins before they draw the final curtain Will I be remembered for my victories small and great The glory of the Christian name I sought to disseminate? Let legend mark me as the king Of whom future generations will sing Cast me not in my old age When my will and strength doth fail Forsake me not 'til I show forth Thy arm To all the ages that are yet to come All in time shall be revealed When all is done my fate is sealed In manus Tuas, Domine Et anima mea quam redemisti And will the Golden Age of Charlemagne Glow more brightly long after my reign? When all the battles have been lost and won Will this warrior king in memory still live on? It was with the sword I overcame my assailants Those heathen hordes for whom menaces, gifts and presents Seemed to speak louder than arguments and reason I did what I had to, to spread the true religion Was the terror of extreme punishment as a means To enforce observance of the doctrines of peace? There were of course moments I desired to surrender My crown, robes, royal hoard and my holy scepter Sometimes I wondered why I could not retire from this world To the peace of a monastic cell Or a pilgrim to the road

Submitted by Pestilence — Apr 26, 2025

In the midst of the vigorous and uninterrupted struggles with the Saxons Charlemagne built garrisons at strategic points to protect his territories from further attacks He then mustered all available forces in order to thwart the greatest threat to Papal lands Men! I have summoned you Here to aid our brothers in Their struggle against the Saracens! We must, at any cost, liberate These lands in order to protect Our realm from the imminent Threat of their insurgency! The Frankish troops then Marched over the Pyrenees Into Iberia Once in Iberia, Charlemagne Calls upon the twelve peers His bravest knights He then instructs Them to command all attacks Against the enemy At the raising of my sword "Joyeuse", show the enemy No mercy until they lay down Their arms and surrender! Gloria in Excelsis Deo! Vivat Francia! Vivat Rex Charlemagne! All the towns and castles that The mighty Frankish army Attacked, surrendered Charlemagne's forces Suffered virtually no losses But, on their long journey Back through the Pyrenees... It is the Gascons! They are attacking our flanks! They have betrayed us!!!

Submitted by Lake of Tears — Apr 26, 2025

We'll die for our king We'll die for our king And our swords will be stained By their blood, by their blood Roland, bring their chief to me Gather your men and we will see Who is the leader that dares to fight? To sleigh and maim against our might Trust us lord that you will see This traitor in hell for eternity Trust us lord and time will tell He'll burn again in hell Go with god my valiant men We'll seek the fox in the darkest den Go with god He will guide and lead the fight Ha, the knights so brave are here They think we're weak and shake with fear You knights, you think your blood won't spill We'll thrust and thrust our blades and kill We're not here to fight, we come in peace Our king Charlemagne does request Your leader would wish to speak with him To hear our lord's need to know why Not here to fight, just wait Right now you cowards Our leader comes, we see him now Approaching on his horse Charlemagne... You're king no more... We'll crush your bones by rock and stones We'll tear you limb from limb We'll pluck your heart and break it apart And fill our cups with your blood to the rim I should have known, no other power Would have betrayed our god There could only be one He is darkness... He is death... He is the devil... Ha, ha, ha, ha, haaa... Charlemagne, you're not immortal like me We'll whip you like a dog Till your blood runs like rivers In flood, flood, flood... We fear you... never We'll fight to the death for honour And our swords will be stained By your blood... forever

Submitted by Sexy Gargoyle — Apr 26, 2025

They came without warning They destroyed our rear guard The end will still be upon us But we'll stand and fight real hard The threat of death The threat of death We shall have no fear The threat of death The threat of death The time, the hour is here Our mighty Christian Lands Are under dire threat If they kill the chosen one Our empire no longer will be left Francia needs a leader For our Lord Charlemgne we fight We'll sacrifice our lives for him And resist with all our might Paladins, Paladins Together we raise our swords Paladins, Paladins Lightning, steel and more For years we stood together Fighting back to back Now what is it you ask me? That I run away and hide Death I am not afraid of But I do not understand Francia needs their King now Not just an epitaph He must escape the carnage He must stay alive We'll cleave a pathway for him To safety he will ride Paladins, Paladins Our name imparts fear Paladins, Paladins Death draws ever near If they want to rule us Charlemagne they must kill We'll defend this reign together We know it is God's will No mortal man could have wished for So brave and trustful Knights They fought and gave their lives For me and our empire In death they made The ultimate sacrifice.

Submitted by johnmansley — Apr 26, 2025

The wars have ended The people have been raised From the dark ages of ignorance and chaos To a new world of enlightenment But what if there is no God, no afterlife Only dusk and Darkness...

Submitted by Corpse Defiler — Apr 26, 2025