Chapter 15: Welcome To Berk

''Despite perceptions to the contrary, the culture of the Norsemen of Berk at the time of Hiccup Haddock was profoundly different than most other Norse and Norse-derived cultures, despite surface similarities. Two of the greatest differences were in the treatment of literacy and the social caste system. Due to the long-simmering social pressures of the Dragon War, Berk had adopted universal literacy as a means for ensuring that critical knowledge would not be lost, and had abandoned the Thrall-Carl-Thane caste system on similarly pragmatic lines. ''

This, of course, caused significant culture shock to other societies, Norse and otherwise, that encountered them over the remainder of Hiccup Haddock's life, and was instrumental in setting the groundwork for what followed.

—The Second Flowering Of Yggdrasil: An Analysis Of The Norse Resurgence, 1710

Foreshadowing
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Epigraph Tie-In

 * The epigraph mentions that Berk's outlawing of thralldom caused culture shocks to other societies that encountered them. The chapter shows the newly freed thralls experiencing a culture shock from their newfound freedom and being instantly allowed to adopt dragons.

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