Nine chargers passed by here
The wind was in their eyes
Their coats were torn to tatters
Nine chargers passed by here
Unhindered by the flies
Or the earth their hoof beats scatters…
…Let me start again, I'll try to make my meaning plain.
Nine chargers passed by here last night,
They seemed in pain…
Their wounds were many, and not far between…
Their faces the sorriest I've ever seen…
Enough to make one weep,
Nine chargers passed by here last night, and woke me from my sleep….
I was dreaming a dream I had often dreamt before…
I fought in a battle, but the war was not my war…
And everything was dim and grey,
As if the twilight had swept my sight away…
I hear the clash of arms, the stallions roar.
See the same men die that I've watched fall the night before…
And at the heart of it he stands…
Iron and cloth for flesh,
A mace in his hands…
And on his gauntlet shines a steel forged ring…
So small a thing… so small a thing…
Nine chargers passed by here
Their coats as black as night
He heard their cries,
Nine chargers passed by here
He wished he had not seen the sight
As daylight dies…
The dreams grow worse… So small a thing…
He fights till a mortal mans muscles should snap, tendons burst… The ring…
In such pain he can't hold in his cries… Watch the king…
And at last he falls, a blade between his eyes… As he dies…
All for the ring… so small a thing…
I wish to dream this dream no more,
I grow so weary from its taxing,
And so once more, I stand before the shore,
And peace I try to find…
But still I see him my mind…
I cannot clear, my mind…
Nine chargers passed by here, he heard their cries,
As to their meaning, he could not realize…
They were but symbols, sent into sleep…
To cast a fateful glow…
On the unspoken horrors, which the fallen know…
And all for a ring… all for a ring…
…for so small a thing…
Farewell, Witch King.
Watcher of the waters, the last king Numor's line would bring …