Book 3, Chapter 41: Shift Happens
Prior to the Norse Reformation, the ethno-religion of the Norse people was technically a folk religion with mixed shamanistic practices and no centralized doctrines. Lacking a canonical unifying text and relying primarily on oral transmission, the particulars of practice and belief differed from region to region, with some particular beliefs and practices being idiosyncratic in comparison to the whole of the religion—which was itself an offshoot of the archaic Germanic religion that had existed in central and western Europa during the prior eras. While pre-Reformation texts which are not from Berk and related tribes are comparatively rare, idiosyncratic differences can still be seen between what examples we do have. It was only later, with Berk's doctrinal canonization which overwrote a great deal of the variation in regional belief, that the Norse religion adopted a set of canonical texts.
One such example of a divergence in belief is that of Sif, Thor's wife. In eastern Norse beliefs, she was primarily an Earth fertility and farming goddess, with her golden hair being an allusion to fields of grain and her marriage to Thor being a symbolic bond between the earth and sky—especially that of life-giving rain on farmers' fields.
In contrast, Sif's depictions are expanded in the beliefs of the Eirish Sea Norse which were eventually canonized by the Norse Reformation. Textual analysis and primary sources show the primary movers of the divergence being the Bog Burglar tribe, which began as a breakaway Sif and Freyja cult sometime in the 800s AD. Here, Sif is still a goddess of the fertility of the earth—a fertility which is enhanced by the blood spilled on the ground by killing attackers attempting to destroy her home, hearth and family. In these depictions, Sif's role is expanded to be similar to that of Freyja, as a deadly warrior woman. However, in contrast to Freyja's focus on the offensive aspects of warfare, Sif's focus is decidedly defensive, that of a mother protecting her children and standing her ground with a refusal to retreat, and a fertility goddess who is completely willing to use the blood and bones of the fallen to enrich her fields.
—The Second Flowering Of Yggdrasil: An Analysis Of The Norse Resurgence, 1710
Tropes that appear in this chapter:
- Armor-Piercing Question: Dagur of all people give one to Toiréasa when questioning her conviction that Heather is keeping her daughter as a deliberate hostage rather than genuinely regarding her as a sister, pointing out that Toiréasa can accept that Dagur is capable of being something other than the monster most people see him as and yet still believes the worst of Heather.
- Both Sides Have a Point: Mulan is right in that they must help their people, which one of the councillors admits, but that same councillor points out that they can't afford to, especially with a reduced tax base from the damage to their nation's biggest city, which is why they need to use propaganda to raise people's morale as that's a lot cheaper, which Mulan does not have a counter-argument for.
- Commonality Connection: Defied. The Byzantine Christians all scoff at the Pope's letter trying to lean on the fact they're all Christians to convince them to protect the Pope in the event the pagan Norse of Berk attacks Rome since the Pope didn't help out his "fellow Christians" when the Byzantine's holdings in Italia were attacked by the Saracens.
- Continuity Nod: Hiccup brings up the dragon-launching catapult he made in Chapter 3.
- Dead Man's Switch: Mac Bethad's men missed one of Mildew's incriminating letters. Unlike the others, Fraser was told that he'd hear from Mildew once a year instead of every four months, so there was no message Taskill could trace to him, meaning he remained unknown and escaped the fate of the other holders of Mildew's letters with his own copy still intact and safe.
- Death Seeker: Downplayed. Dagur is not actively seeking death, but he does not mind that Heather wants him dead, saying he deserves death.
- Does Not Like Men: Godwif hates men due to her (implied) past as a rape victim, and does not trust the Hooligans, which is why she argues the Bog Burglars should flee rather than join Berk.
- Dramatic Irony: Due to finding dragons enslaved and abused by Mildew and his cronies, Valka comes to the Entertainingly Wrong conclusion that Berk's figured out how to enslave dragons.
- Internal Reveal: The chapter ends with China hearing about Berk.
- Propaganda Hero: According to the other councillors, Mulan was made a councillor to keep the people calm, to remind them the attackers were driven off.
- Taking It Well: When Toiréasa admits to Dagur that she was sent to kill him by his own sister, he just shrugs it off and says "Good for her."
