Hi @TheEdVerse , hope this finds you well on this turkey day. I was hoping to pick your brain. Do you by chance have the complete lyrics to "Ever a Hero Be"? It was a ballad written by Thalloviir Vaundruth in 1344DR, featured in your novel The Swords of Eveningstar.
— Dwaine Spradling (@DwaineSpradling) November 26, 2021
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Until now, only the second verse has been seen in published Realmslore, as the header quotation of Chapter 13 of Swords of Eveningstar.
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SUCCESS! So, here you go…
Ever a Hero Be
This ballad was penned by Thalloviir Vaundruth, Bard of Beregost, in 1344 DR. It consists of seven verses sharing the same rhyming scheme, and separated by a five-line refrain.It was Vaundruth’s habit, shared by many traveling minstrels and bards of the time, to begin a performance by announcing the…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 27, 2021
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…name of a ballad, speaking each word slowly and deliberately, with pauses between, thus:EVER…
A…
HERO…
Be!(Then the performer would strike an strange, complex opening chord, usually not one or even in a key heard in the ballad itself; …listen to the… 4)
…opening of the Beatles song A Hard Day’s Night for an example of one such. This chord might seem random, but is repeated exactly at the end of the ballad, to signal to listeners unfamiliar with a tune that the song was at an end, not merely reaching a pause.)#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 27, 2021
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O hovel rude or castle tall
Empty purse or having it all
We all need heroes lest we fall
For force creeps in through every wall
To dance on bones with glee 6)[Refrain:]
Home and hearth and loving arms
Food and friends all have their charms
But to defend and keep them you must evil see
And fight it fierce but thinkingly
To please the gods, and ever a hero be#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 27, 2021
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But deep in halls dark and haunted
Even heroes bold, high-vaunted
Twice and thrice, to end up daunted
Think of loved ones deeply wanted
And much safer places to be[Refrain:] 8)
Way on seldom straight or bright as thought
For the truth you hear is sometimes not
And firm loyalties they can be bought
Stride once wrong and catch it hot
Die or learn right fast when to flee[Refrain:]#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 27, 2021
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Once young and eager, restless, I
Did yearn for gold and feasts to be my
Daily lot as my name soared high
’Til I had all the castles I yearned to buy
I think I’d want at least three[Refrain:] 10)
Wiser then I grew thanks to the gods
And many a kick square in the cods
Yet slowly won the approving nods
And learned to smell the subtle frauds
Well, enough to stay alive and free[Refrain:]#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 27, 2021
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So, now I’m old, no longer bold
My flame it sinks, to soon grow cold
My face no more here to behold
My tale’s end it shall be told
And the gods shall come for me[Refrain:] 12)
O, after many flashy things I have yearned
And many of my desires have me spurned
My share of bridges behind me burned
This hard lesson I have learned
But now share with thee for free:[Refrain, but sung loudly and at half speed; the audience knows that…#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 27, 2021
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…the custom is that they can join in if they want to, chanting if they can’t carry a tune]And there you have it. :}
Enjoy, I hope!
Ed Oh, and the tune is pretty close to this:https://t.co/HEczcuJR1n
(from the carol See Amid the Winter Snow, but a performance in the Realms would be much closer in sung style to this)#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 27, 2021
Thank you so very much sir! That was a much faster response that I was expecting or could have hoped for. You must have felled that pesky tree with some kind of mighty magic. No, I used my trusty axe. ;} Then a bow saw to cut the trunk into three lengths light enough to hoist on my shoulder (I'm getting old, my deadlift capacity is fading) to carry to the scrubpile for drying (in spring, I'll cut to woodstove firebox length). I have 4 acres of forest.
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 27, 2021