Asgard smolders while the survivors of Ragnarok gather in the smoking grove where Valhalla once stood. To soothe their despair, the bard Bragi leads them in remembering their fallen family. Within this frame are interlocking episodes, miniatures that part the veil of human nature with timeless themes of eternal life, heartbreak, adventure, resurrection, resentment, pain, and consolation. Meanwhile, as the mead is passed and noses glow in the fire-flicker, a wily young god will trudge through the wounded copse and discover the buried secret of the next world-cycle.

Category: fiction