Halgrin scraped the last stubble from his scalp with his dagger, thenwiped the hair and blood from the blade and put it away. He had shavedhimself bald except for a narrow crest of hair like a coxcomb. Now hestripped to the waist and lowered his head. He didn’t know the words ofthe Slayer’s Oath, for he had never considered becoming one. Hopefullythe god would accept his imperfect vow in the spirit in which it wasgiven.
“Grimnir, father of valor,” he said. “For my shame and the wrongs Ihave done, I vow to you that I will die in battle, facing the mightiestcreatures I can find. I hope, through my death, to redeem myself inyour eyes, and that you will find me worthy to enter your halls.”
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