“Thou, Valfather, wouldst have me tell the ancient histories of men as far as I remember.” —Völuspá (ca. 1270 AD) I leaned on the leafless oak enveloped in a pool of blood. It overflowed in my lap to drip down my shin on the thawing snow. Dáinsleif the Deathbringer lay at my side, unsheathed and…