The lyrics so you can try singing along: Deep into the stony hills, Miles from keep or hold, A troop of guards comes riding With a lady and her gold Riding in the center, Shrouded in her cloak of fur, Companioned by a maiden And a toothless, aged cur Three things see no end: A flower blighted ere it bloom, A message that was wasted, And the journey that was doomed One among the guardsmen Has a shifting, restless eye And as they ride, he scans the hills That rise against the sky He wears a sword and bracelet Worth more than he can afford And hidden in his baggage Is a heavy, secret hoard Of three things be wary: Of the hungry hunting cat, The shepherd eating mutton, And the guardsman that is fat From ambush bandits screaming Charge the pack train and its prize All but four within the train Are taken by surprise And all but four are cut down As a woodsman fells a log: The guardsman and the lady And the maiden and the dog Three things know a secret: First, the lady in a dream, The dog who barks no warning, And the maid who does not scream Then off the lady pulls her cloak, In armor she is clad Her sword is out and ready And her eyes are fierce and glad The maiden gestures briefly And the dog's a cur no more A wolf, swordmaid, and sorceress Now face the bandit corps Three things never anger Or you will not live for long: A wolf with cubs, a man with power, And a woman's sense of wrong The bandits growl a challenge And the lady only grins The sorceress bows mockingly, And then the fight begins When it ends, there are but four Left standing from that horde: The witch, the wolf, the traitor, And the woman with the sword Three things never trust in: The maiden sworn as pure, The vows a king has given, And the ambush that is sure They've stripped the traitor naked And they've whipped him on his way, Into the barren hillsides like The folk he used to slay They take a thorough vengeance For the women he's cut down And then they mount their horses And they journey back to town Three things trust and cherish well: The horse on which you ride, The beast that guards and watches, And the sister at your side
As a note to those commenting - all of these "problems" come from the fact that the song was written, by Mercedes Lackey herself, before she wrote the book to go with. That's where the discrepancies come from; when she wrote the story she fixed the problems with the song.
Exactly. Misty wrote the song long before she wrote Oathbound. In one of the other novels where Kethry and (I forget her partner's name) meet heralds they even comment in the story that the song got facts wrong.
I so can see my fiancé's bard singing and playing this song at some point during our d&d campaign. The bard almost never shuts up since he's always performing even in middle of a jungle or dungeon, lol.
@WhoTouchedMyReindeer The way it's told in the book is that the song was written by a bard that wasn't there and just heard what had happened second or third hand. There are some mistakes in the song because of the distance of the writer.
Bud... Mercedes LAckey herself wrote the song (She's an accomplished lyricist as well as an author) About the escapades described in the book, Oathbound. Buy the book Oathbreaker adn look at the lyrics in the back "Threes" By: Mercedes Lackey. The tune may or may not be original, however the lyrics most certainly are. Before you make any claims, Please bring any facts you might have to bear.
@SpikesScarletWitch Don't feel bad. This is the first time I have heard this not done by a male voice. I found it as an mp3 on the web at the time. I used it during a D&D campaign with, "You walk into the tavern and a travelling bard is singing this for an attentive crowd."
@@midnightsorrow4548 Yes! Its the Vows and Honor Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey! This song refers to one particular story within the series. I would personally recommend getting one of the omnibus versions of the series!
@@zuhtru I like the idea of those familiar with the song joining in on the chorus, the singer can have so much fun with that. Maybe pointing at different sections of the room for each line of the chorus.
Does anyone know if it is possible to purchase this album or, more specifically, this song either electronically or physically without paying $160+ on eBay?
hmm. I stand (well... sit) corrected. Oathbreaker has the song but it said Filked By: Mercedes Lackey. I also bought Oathblood. You are correct in both instances.. depressingly.
IIRC (haven't read the books in a while), only a handful of guards actually died from their wounds, most were what the military calls 'casualties', meaning injured in action.
