Chapter 9: Odd Neighbors

''Berk (Island) —Largest island of the four Small Isles of the Alban Hebrides archipelago, and noted for its extreme geography, possessing glacier-carved high mountain peaks and an extensive array of sea caves and wave-carved coastal features. The island is the ancestral homeland of House Haddock and the other Houses descended from the ancient Hooligan tribe. Settled by the Hooligan Norse tribe in the early 700s CE as a longphort, to use as a base for further Viking raids against the Irish, Welsh, Alban and Saxon coastlines, the island was one of the focal points of the Dragon War, due to the tenacity and self-admitted stubbornness of the Hooligans.

—Encyclopedia Norlandia, 7th Edition, 1642, Edinburgh, Scotland

Chapter Overview
Hiccup starts visiting the neighbours with the gang. Astrid realises Hiccup isn't great at politics or reading people and situations, and confronts him about his misreading of the situation.

Foreshadowing
An elderly woman asks Hiccup to deliver a package to her daughter who had married into another village. This eventually turns into Hiccup setting up the Dragon Mail.

Epigraph Tie-In

 * The epigraph mentions the self-admitted stubbornness of the Hooligan tribe. That stubbornness is shown from Hiccup when he and Astrid have an argument about how Glenfinnan interpreted Hiccup's visit to them and how Hiccup interpreted their reactions.

Links to the Chapter
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