Chapter 6: Return To Sender

''In Berk's immediate vicinity in the Alban Isles, there were not many major dominant powers. Eire was politically fragmented into dozens of warring petty kings, and had not been unified since the death of High King Brian Boru at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. Alba, in the north, was under the rule of the Red King, Mac Bethad mac Findlaích, but he was new to his title at the time, and, despite his later activities, was not by any means a major power. Wales was politically splintered into five squabbling kingdoms that would not reunify for years. Around the Eirish Sea and Hebrides were other warlords and petty kings, many of whom belonged to related dynasties and feuded endlessly with one another.

''The single greatest powers in the immediate vicinity were England, which was ruled by the tyrannical King Harthacnut, and the politically decentralized Frankish kingdom to the south, ruled by King Henry of the Capets. Neither power had the population, or the initial incentives, to pursue conflicts with Berk. Henry was dealing with conflicts with and between his nobility, while Harthacnut was imposing his will on a restive populace. In particular, the autocratic methods that Harthacnut had used to rule over Denmark for the previous several years were backfiring on him tremendously and setting the stage for…''

—Corpus Historiae Berkiae, 1396

Chapter Overview
Hiccup leads the search and rescue for the kidnapped dragons, and encounters more of the challenges of being a good and just leader.

Foreshadowing
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Epigraph Tie-In

 * The epigraph mentions that many of the petty kings of Eire and Hebrides belonged to related dynasties. The chapter introduces Adalwin of the Uí Ímair dynasty, the petty king of Vedrafjord.

Links to the Chapter
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