(03-21-2021, 11:16 AM)Norgarth Wrote: A Thing of Vikings (HTTYD) concluding Book 3
https://archiveofourown.org/works/104089...3#workskin
Quote: On the topic of the Red King, Mac Bethad mac Findlaích, the man is primarily notable in terms of the legacy he left behind, as opposed to his immediate actions. Even his apologists, of whom he has few, admit that their primary defense of the man is to plead ignorance and lack of awareness on his part of the possible outcomes of his deeds, for the facts are indisputable in how the Red King's legacy was, on the whole, a negative one. He fomented wars and mistrust, attempted to cripple and attack out of needless suspicion and fear, and many of his deeds directly led to an escalation of conflict.
One area of argument is the point that, if not for his actions, the Norse Reformation might not have happened, as he spread the seeds of conflict that began to sprout the year after his death, seeds from which the Norse Reformation sprang. However, even among those Norse adherents who subscribe to this viewpoint, the sore point remains in how much his behavior was antithetical to their faith's teachings. And his actions also helped accelerate Berk's territorial growth, by setting Harthacnut the Dane upon his perceived foe, as well as other such actions that stemmed from his time.
But, ultimately, he failed in his goals. Alba became an integral and important province of Berk's territory, and eventually became a core component of the North Sea Empire in the coming years. His family line ended with him, and his stepson never ruled. All the Red King arguably succeeded in doing, in the end, was adding to the casualty counts of the coming wars that he helped spark and escalate, and adding a morality lesson for parents and entertainers on the costs of baseless suspicion, and how such things can spiral into chaos and death.
—A History Of The Isles, Oxford, England, 1591
Not just concluding Book III, it's the last ATOV of 2021! (CW: Explicit Character Death, Implied Act Of Murder)
We pick up in Constantinople, where Harald finds out who's escorting the absotively hugemongous dragon he saw approaching last time. In the chief's hut on Berk, the discussions between Heather and Toiréasa are going about as well as you'd expect. In the Alan capitol of Maghas, Drago meets the man who distracted his riders, coming out of the encounter with a new sense of what lies ahead. Back on Berk, the eggs are hatching, particularly the two sired by Toothless and the one laid by Fearless. On a trade ship crossing the Eirish Sea, Rodhlaug is fuming over how far she's fallen, but determined to rise again. On Ninguaria, in the Insulae Canariae, Viggo sees that what TTL!Pliny reported still holds true. In Berk's gaol, Heather begins questioning a very important prisoner. And we close on an island in the far north, where Valka and Cloudjumper attend a gathering of nest-lords that would make any walker SCREM...