Outside of Moss Mother Cavern you run into Valdr, who is wounded and he asks you for help.

You can help him or you can ignore him and go into the cave alone, which I did. When you come out, he should still be there.

When I came out of the cave, he was still there, but dead, so I can no longer help him. Helping him remains on my quest list under miscellaneous. How can I get rid of "dead" miscellaneous items like this one that can't be acted on?

Reload I think is the only way you will get rid of it by the sound of it. The alternative is unfortunately just to leave it there until you finish your current play through.