Chapter 103: Roots And Wings

''The ancient Hooligan tradition of absurdist or otherwise unconventional personal names that was in place during the time of Hiccup Haddock III (himself a prime example of the tradition) originated, according to tribal legend, with Hiccup III's ancestor, Hiccup I. According to the sagas, his parents named him when the baby had nonstop hiccups prior to his formal naming—and then a plague broke out which decimated the other infants of his cohort, and young Hiccup I not only survived, he never contracted the disease at all, a pattern which persisted through the next two years of plague outbreaks. Then, according to the saga, another toddler who had contracted the plague and was in danger of dying from it had his name changed from Varg to Catbrains in desperation by his parents, and was healthy within a week.''

''This resulted in absurdist names for nearly all of the tribe's children over the next generations, a situation apparently enhanced as a result of the difficulty which the tribe had in bringing pregnancies to term due to Nadder venom-induced miscarriages. With the birthing of children being so hard to achieve during this period, children were prized and even coddled as much as the harsh environment allowed them to be. The prizing of any child, no matter how sickly or bastard-born, reached the point where the tradition of exposing sickly infants which was the norm in other Norse cultures was rejected emphatically by the Hooligans.''

''Further reinforcement of the naming tradition came from the extinction of several other clans during this time, as well as Clan Hofferson's near extinction in the late-900s AD all of which were seen as being the natural consequence of failing to heed the tribal wisdoms of unconventional names. Over time, this tradition eventually grew to encompass a protective aura against other childhood threats to life and limb, both real and mythical.''

—To Label The Stars: The Cultural Impact Of Names, Kyoto University Press, Ltd.

Foreshadowing
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Epigraph Tie-In

 * The epigraph mentions that the Hooligans prized any child they could bring to term, no matter the circumstances. This attitude is shown by Lopsides in her chapter during her talk with Fishwings.

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