In "Creation" and "Perdition," Volumes One and Two of "The Chronicles of Ara," we learned of a series of "lost" documents that allegedly map the escape of both man and god from imminent catastrophe. When the first of these documents is discovered in London, entitled "The Mirkwood Codex," the secrets contained therein expose far more than expected. Centuries ago, a telling section of "Beowulf" was composed in a strange, almost Elvish language and discreetly...