Ladies and gentlemen, the last A Thing of Vikings chapter for 2018, a tale that could only have been called "Harthacnut Is Better Than None"!
Chapter Trigger Warnings: Explicit Acts of Violence (Warfare), Explicit Character Deaths (Warfare), Implied Attempts of Non-Con (Battlefield)
In London, Harthacnut is awakened by Stoick and Thornado sending a message that lets him know this will be his last day on Earth. In Vedrarfjord, Astrid and her loves are awakened by the news that the Eirish army planned at the end of last chapter has come to their doorstep. Near Aros, Denmark, Dogsbreath lands Redsnout at the rebel encampment to find out how he can help next. In the Rookery on Berk, the flyers debate how, and possibly even whether, to come to the aid of the walkers who've stayed behind. Back in Vedrarfjord, Hákon greets the van of the Eirish army, dodges their initial reply, and spots an unwelcome face among their ranks. In London again, Stoick has time to wax philosophical as he watches the battle unfold, then puts philosophy into practice as he works to keep the war just. Returning to Berk, Spitelout asks how they're going to defend the island, just in time for a surprising answer to arrive. In Vedrarfjord once more, Hiccup gets a better sense of what he's up against, and of what he's got on his side, and starts planning his next move. Back in London, Harthacnut puts his life on the line. Over at Aros, Dogsbreath reaches (what he thinks is) his last hope. On the Moorfields, outwith the walls of London, Harthacnut proves himself a sore loser at the end, but Stoick gives him the respect due a fallen foe just the same. In Berkian waters, Spitelout puts Hiccup's surprise gift to very good use. In Vedrarfjord, Hiccup shows us why angels run when a good man goes to war. Near Aros again, Dogsbreath and Inga make their farewells to the Danes. In Bari, Sigurd wraps up a smaller, but not really lesser, curb-stomping. And finally, back in Vedrarfjord, Hiccup unleashes the full fruits of his genius on the Eirish, and forces himself to watch the results...
https://archiveofourown.org/works/104089...s/40507910
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12639117/73...Of-Vikings
Dragons of the North: Profiles Of The Viking Lords, Waterford University Press, 1733 Wrote:Harthacnut (Danish: Hardeknud), occasionally named as Canute III, was King of Denmark from AD 1035 to AD 1042, and King of England from AD 1040 to AD 1042. The son of King Canute the Great and Emma of Normandy, he was born, in July 1017, in England, shortly after their marriage. As part of the negotiations of surrender in the aftermath of King Canute's conquest of England, Harthacnut took precedence in inheritance over his older half-brothers from his parents' first marriages. When their father died in AD 1035, Harthacnut was left ruling Denmark, while his half-brother Svein (son of Ælfgifu of Northampton) was faced with a revolt in Norway, and Harold Harefoot (also son of Ælfgifu) took control in England.
[...]popularly seen as little more than a brutal tyrant without virtue or redeeming value, Harthacnut has usually been presented in a highly moralistic fashion in most popular media over the centuries. In these stories, he is used as an archetypal figure of the corrupt and brutal nobleman whose own evils bring about his downfall, an almost idealized villainous figure from whose tyranny and grotesque abuses the populace are freed from.
As such, in contemporary media, there is little interest in conflicting perspectives on his family background and upbringing that produced him. This is not helped by the recorded accounts of his actions, including massacres, repressive taxation, executions, feasts in the midst of bad harvests, oathbreaking, violations of hospitality, loyalty purges, and even the posthumous beheading and disposal of Harold Harefoot, his paternal half-brother, in retribution for the death of Ælfred Æþeling, Harthacnut's maternal half-brother. His death on 11 June, AD 1042 is seen as appropriately fated, but even then, he is typically overshadowed by the other events of the day...
Chapter Trigger Warnings: Explicit Acts of Violence (Warfare), Explicit Character Deaths (Warfare), Implied Attempts of Non-Con (Battlefield)
In London, Harthacnut is awakened by Stoick and Thornado sending a message that lets him know this will be his last day on Earth. In Vedrarfjord, Astrid and her loves are awakened by the news that the Eirish army planned at the end of last chapter has come to their doorstep. Near Aros, Denmark, Dogsbreath lands Redsnout at the rebel encampment to find out how he can help next. In the Rookery on Berk, the flyers debate how, and possibly even whether, to come to the aid of the walkers who've stayed behind. Back in Vedrarfjord, Hákon greets the van of the Eirish army, dodges their initial reply, and spots an unwelcome face among their ranks. In London again, Stoick has time to wax philosophical as he watches the battle unfold, then puts philosophy into practice as he works to keep the war just. Returning to Berk, Spitelout asks how they're going to defend the island, just in time for a surprising answer to arrive. In Vedrarfjord once more, Hiccup gets a better sense of what he's up against, and of what he's got on his side, and starts planning his next move. Back in London, Harthacnut puts his life on the line. Over at Aros, Dogsbreath reaches (what he thinks is) his last hope. On the Moorfields, outwith the walls of London, Harthacnut proves himself a sore loser at the end, but Stoick gives him the respect due a fallen foe just the same. In Berkian waters, Spitelout puts Hiccup's surprise gift to very good use. In Vedrarfjord, Hiccup shows us why angels run when a good man goes to war. Near Aros again, Dogsbreath and Inga make their farewells to the Danes. In Bari, Sigurd wraps up a smaller, but not really lesser, curb-stomping. And finally, back in Vedrarfjord, Hiccup unleashes the full fruits of his genius on the Eirish, and forces himself to watch the results...
https://archiveofourown.org/works/104089...s/40507910
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12639117/73...Of-Vikings