The Fate Of Norns

His kid died and it's real sad.

The Norns are the norse equivalent of the fates. Anyway, guy's kid dies, he builds a funeral pyre and burns himself and his child together on it.

"It's time to answer Odens's call My son, he calls for me and you"

For this to be true, the son must have been slain in battle, and the father mortally wounded.

...though then you may ponder how the father managed to make a pyre large enough to burn two bodies, when he was mrotally wounded.

*mortally. Damn typoes.

The norns are three sisters, related to fate you could say. Actually though this would be incorrect. They weave the web of Wyrd. Past, present and future, they fit all the peices together. Even the gods must submit to their being and have webs of their own.

Argor: "For this to be true, the son must have been slain in battle, and the father mortally wounded."

Amon Amarth aren't too anal about following Norse Mythology to the letter. It's more likely his son just died of illness of some sort, as was extremely common prior to the days of healthcare, vaccines, medicine, etc.

The line "Death smiled at him its deadly grin There is no one for me to blame" further suggests this is the case.

not to mention the fact that he is 6 years old when he died "He was just 6 winters old". Even Sigurd was considered quite young in his late teens to be a warrior, so it is doubtful the son in this song was out swinging a sword at the enemy when he met his doom.

Prepare for a long one as I am going to try and tackle all the verses/choruses separately:

"I feel a chill in my heart Like lingering winter cold I and my son are torn apart He was just 6 winters old"

This one is a pretty easy one to figure out. A guy(Viking probably knowing AA's music) finds his son dead how he died is unknown, but given age and other things, it could have been just disease or something.

"My first-born was he And the last of my kin The last one to carry my name Death smiled at him its deadly grin There is no one for me to blame"

It was the Viking's first and only son and seemingly of his entire family, which may lead one to think that his whole village was attacked or something, however the last line says that he has no one to blame so it could have been just a natural thing that happened, or perhaps like stated earlier, a disease.

"The fate of Norns await us all There is no way to escape The day to answer Oden's call Or walk through hel's gate"

The Norns as explained already are similar to The Fates. In Norse Mythology The Norns weave the past, present and future of ALL things. Including the Gods. What that means is that everything that happens to you is already pre determined(There is no way to escape) In Norse Mythology(as far as I know anyway) To go to Oden's Hall is a great Honor as you become one who will be Awoken for Ragnarok to fight with the Aesir against the Giants. Or you go where everyone else does, to Hel. I think this is just in the song to provide that extra...meaning I guess, though it could of course just be that the Father figure in the song is realizing that his son was taken for a reason and that it was ok, because this was supposed to happen, sort of like emotional support.

"I carry him to my ship He seems to be asleep But the deep blue colour of his lips Is enough to make me weep"

Another easy one and pretty obvious. The father person is taking his child to his ship in order to bring him to a proper burial area. He describes the lifeless body of his child and naturally(even Vikings cry) he cries/weeps over the sadness that washes over him.

"No man should have to bury his child Yet this has been my share The tears i shed run bitter and wild It's a heavy burden to bear"

The father person basically saying what people now say. It's the worst when you have to bury your own child. The father person is now completely overcome by emotion and seems to be coming to the realization that he won't be able to live with the burden(It's a heavy burden to bear).

"His body feels so light in my arms His skin is pale as snow Yet his weight feels heavy in my heart As my sadness continues to grow"

Since the son was only 6 years old he is probably not heavy(weight wise) so for a big father figure they would be "Light in my arms". Again it's more description of the lifeless body of the boy. The father person is definitely feeling pretty down now, as is a natural reaction should a family member pass away.

"Allfather! What fate has been given me? Why must I suffer? Why must I feel this pain? Allfather! LIfe has lost it's meaning to me I think I'm going insane!"

This is the father person screaming at Oden(Norse god, a "nickname" for Oden is the Allfather) as one now might yell at God. Asking why this is going on, what is happening, what did I do to deserve this? And now we get to the father definitely thinking/considering suicide(Allfather!/ LIfe has lost it's meaning to me/ I think I'm going insane!)

"I lay him down on a pyre A burial worthy a king And as I lie down by his side I hear the weaving norns sing"

This is the father person laying his son down in his burial mound/pyre thing. He describes it as fit for a king, meaning the father wanted his child to be buried the proper way. This also has the Father person committing suicide by burning himself and his son together. Probably so he could feel more like he wasn't losing his son but like he was going with him to the other place, be it Oden's Hall or Hel. He describes hearing the Norns(Fates) Weaving his fate as he kills himself, which to me shows that this was actually part of his fate as the Norns already have your fate thought out, so it's as if the Norns already knew(also the Title becomes more clear).

"The fate of Norns await us all I know this to be true It's time to answer Odens's call My son, he calls for me and you"

The Fate of Norns already described. The father realizes that this was part of his fate as well to die alongside his son(I know this to be true). They both answer Oden's call(Great honor/thing like going to heaven in Christianity). And I think the last line could have multiple meanings but the one I think is that since this story is being told from the fathers perspective, his son's fate inevitably brought along his as well, so saying his son calls "Me and you" he is saying you can't really escape fate and it is calling you(My son, He Calls...).

That's my take on it anyway, sorry for the long post.

When I gear this song, I am reminded that the Vikingr raided each other as often as they raided others. My guess is that the father and son were both mortally wounded during a raid on their own village