Book 4, Chapter 23: Nor The Warrior For His Glory
First Battle Of The Seine River
Date: August 4-11, AD 1043
Location: Seine River near Rouen, Normandy
Result: Strategic Hooligan Success
* Evacuation of 26,482 Jews
Belligerents
Hooligan Tribe of Berk
Duchy of Normandy
Coalition of Gui de Brionne
Commanders and Leaders
Marshal Spitelout Clodgallsson Clan Jorgenson I
Duke William House Haddock
Duke-Pretender Gui de Brionne
Sir Henry de Brittany
Strength
3,500 dragon-riders (800 engaged in combat)
2,500 dragons (50 engaged in combat)
25,000 men
Casualties and losses
Marshal Spitelout
219 men
34 dragons
~900 men
The First Battle of the Seine River was fought in August AD 1043 by the combined forces of the Hooligan Tribe of Berk and William Haddock, Duke of Normandy, against the forces of several rebel Norman barons, led by Sir Henry of Brittany, son of Regent Godefroy of Brittany, in their efforts to seat Gui de Brionne, the son of Reginald I, Count of Brionne, on the ducal throne of Normandy.
The battle—technically a series of holding actions along the length of the Seine River at various bridges near Rouen—was a strategic victory for the Hooligans, despite the loss of the Hooligan Marshal, Spitelout Jorgenson I, and a number of other men and dragons to the attacking Francian forces. The holding actions allowed for the strategic goal of complete evacuation of the various Jewish communities from North Francia to the Alban Isles...
...often referred to as the opening battle of the Norse Reformation, the battle was instrumental in a Norse cultural shift of its warrior ideal from aggressors to protectors...
—First Battle of the Seine River (n.d.), Wikikenna, retrieved August 22, 1871
Tropes that appear in this chapter:
- Call-Back: Musa was first introduced in the side story, Una Nueva Espada Para Una Nueva Era before first appearing in the main story in this chapter.
- Dramatic Irony: All of the Pechenegs still believe Kurya to be dead when in fact he survived their attack on the Song Dynasty.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Astrid gains an idea on how to win against Sir Henry's forces with minimal damage to William's holdings.
- Evil Overlord: Fishswill gets Stoick to agree to his idea of the Thing having two chambers as a check on each other and the royalty in an explicit defiance of this trope so that future rulers are not dictators on par with Nero or Caligula.
- God Guise: Hiccup flies to Normandy to order the civilians to evacuate, but he doesn't speak Norman French, and so speaks in Latin (through a Thunderdrum, which acts as a natural loudspeaker). It's not surprising that some people think a figure standing in a flying chariot pulled by dragons, holding a flaming sword, and yelling "BE NOT AFRAID" in Latin is an angel.
- Internal Reveal:
- Hiccup, Astrid, Wulfhild, and their entourage are brought up to speed on Sir Henry's warmongering efforts in Normandy, including Spitelout falling in battle.
- Heather learns from various reports just how little power King Henry actually has.
- Not Quite Dead: Spitelout is still alive but heavily injured and is being looked after by Rivkah.
- Rank Up: Astrid is appointed to the position of Marshal after the lost of Spitelout.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Magnus calls out the assembled representatives of his people for refusing to give refuge to Jews by citing the Bible at them. Some are ashamed, though others are defiant.
- White-Collar Crime: The tithes paid to the Archbishop of Eire and Alba are supposed to be used for church-upkeep. However, the Abbey of Iona has reported that the churches of those regions have not been receiving them. Padraig suspects malfeasance and reports it to Hakon.
