"Sir Koris Natterhelm once mentioned that he thought there should be a song about how difficult it is to be King. I wrote this after a mellow evening of trading folk songs with a friend, and sang it for Johann von Hohenstaffen's Coronation in May of A.S. XIII. It still makes people cry." -- Baldwin of Erebor

The Burden of the Crown

The battlefield is silent, The shadows growing long.
Though I may view the sunset, I'll not live to see the dawn.
The trees have ceased to rustle, The birds no longer sing.
All nature seems to wonder, at the passing of a King.

And now you stand before me, Your father's flesh and blood
Begotten of my sinews, On the woman that I loved
So difficult the birthing, The mother died that day
And now you stand before me, To bear my crown away.

The hour's fast approaching, When you come into your own
When you take the ring and sceptre, And sit upon the throne
Before that fatal hour, When we each must meet our fate
Pray, gaze upon the royal crown, And marvel at its weight.

This cap of burnished metal, Is the symbol of a land
Supporting all we cherish, The dreams for which we stand
The weight, you'll find,is nothing, If you hold it in your palm
The burden of the Crown begins, The day you put it on.

Copyright in 1979 by Derek Foster. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

General Requirements for the Elevation to the Peerage / Table of Contents

Last Updated June 19, 1997