My first in a collection of stories. Read my profile for a better explanation of my plan with these fusion between the movie and "real" lore and facts about the Norsemen and there way of life.

This chapter is about the tale of Ragnarök, told by the village elder Gothi. It's a Viking's favorite story, and everyone is excited to hear it - everyone but Hiccup. Something troubles him deeply. What is it, and will Astrid be able to drag it out of him?


"And so, Ragnarök will come to pass!" The voice of the village elder, Gothi[1], was light but intense. Standing before the bonfire, they could all see her round, old, but kind face. Her shining eyes wandered among the uplifted faces of her audience, while her small body seemed to be surrounded by the glowing light of the raging fire. The teenage gang, along with the other children of Berk, were all sitting before her in a wide semicircle under the evening sky. It was a clear, warm and calm evening, and the stars where glimmering brightly. Mani[2], the moon-god, was looking down on them, and somehow the moon seemed closer than ever.

"The sign has been given,"she continued, wildly gesturing with her right hand, the left one clinging to the staff on which she was leaning. She was standing over a seated audience, yet her small stature put her at an almost face-to-face height with her listeners.

"The three roosters will crow. Fjalar will crow in the forest of Galgvior, in Jotunheim, the land of the giants," she continued, pointing beyond their heads as if she knew where the giants dwells,

"The golden rooster Gullinkambi will crow in Valhalla, in Asgard." She raised her hand slightly to the sky, marking the mountain where Odin dwells.

"And the third, unnamed rooster, will crow in Hel[3]." Letting her hand fall, she marked the the underworld. "The roots of the world tree Yggdrasil will finally give way, and the whole world will shudder in earthquake." She swept her hand above the heads of the audience, as if pointing out the whole world around them. Her voice was a spell of excitement and wonder. This was indeed the favorite tale for all Vikings. All except one.

Hiccup was sitting in the outset of the audience. He shifted uncomfortably. His prosthetic leg, a still new part of his life for him, wasn't the only reason for his unease. Fishlegs, sitting beside him, on the other hand, was just as caught up in the story as everyone else was. He leaned forward, as if shorting the distance would make him be able to hear better. His mouth was open and his eyes were sparkling.

"And with the trembling of the world, the terrible wolf, Fenrir, will at last be free from his bonds. The huge Midgard serpent, Jormungand, will awake and burst out from the depth of the ocean, making the sea roar in an overwhelming storm. And carried on the storm, the evil ship of Naglfar[4], made up completely of the fingers and toenails of those who have died, will come. On it will the giants invade Midgard!" Gothi let a dramatic pause sweep over the crowd. The younger children shivered once more, and many of them looked at their fingernails, trying to imagine them made into a ship. With a hidden smile, she continued.

"From the realm of Hel, a second ship will sail, with Loki as its chieftain. And from the realm of Muspellheim, the fire giants, led by Surt, will march forward." The intensity grew; they all knew that their favorite part was about to come. Gothi paused yet again, straightening her back to become a whole three centimeters taller before continuing.

"And then, the power of the gods will assemble to meet the invaders. With Heimdall blowing in his mighty horn, Gjallarhorn, the armies of Asgard will march out to meet the forces of darkness and fire. And the gods, mighty as they are, will not stand alone in this desperate hour. With the gods, every noble Viking that were dwelling in the halls of Valhalla and on the fields of Folkvangr will follow[5]. For you see, Odin, the all-seer, created us Vikings for this purpose, so that we who have proven ourselves to be worthy and honorable will stand beside him on the last and ultimate battle against the shadow." The crowed awed, imagining the honor and glory of marching side by side with Odin to war. Many of them had heard this story before, but it still made the same impression as the first time this thought crossed their mind. Every one of them, even the girls, were certain that they would be there, marching along the gods to their destiny.

Here Gothi made a little edition of her own to the tale: "And imagine us, the strong Vikings of Berk, riding our dragons to war. We will be an elite force of the sky, worthy of remembering in song and tales." The thought of using Berk's newly founded friends as a means of war was new. It had been spoken in the past between the chieftain and the leaders of Berk, but that was mostly as a means of defense. The idea that the dragons might accompany their riders even after death, to the very fields of the last battle, was controversial.

The old priestess smiled. The children would take this thought home with them, and it may spark an argument in the village. But she was the village elder, and she did not fear nor mind a debate on such things.[6]

Fishlegs nudged his elbow in Hiccup's direction when the subject of dragons came up, meaning to hint to him that he and his Night Fury would be the ones leading the Vikings. . But he found himself striking at thin air. The spot next to him where Hiccup had been just a moment before was empty. He looked around to see where the boy might have gone, but as Gothi continued, he was pulled back into the spell of the story.

"On the plains of Vigrid, a plain that is a hundred miles long and a hundred miles wide, the forces of good and evil will clash, and with a tremendous roar that will shake the foundation of the world, the final battle will begin!" Gothi slammed her staff into the ground, almost shouting the last part, and all who listened jerked back in alarm and excitement. As the tale dragged on, she told them of how Odin, who had already foreseen his fate, would be the first one to charge. He would be swallowed whole by the wolf Fenrir, causing the rest of the gods and forces of Asgard to charge in anger and fury. Odins son, Vidar, would avenge his father by breaking the jaws of Fenrir. She told of Thor, who would battle the huge Midgard serpent Jormungand, and with the might of his hammer, Mjolnir, he would slay the beast. But he himself would be poisoned by the foul beast's teeth and will only take nine more steps before collapsing.

And on she went, explaining how the powerful gods of Asgard and the heroic Vikings will fight the giants and their allies. In the end, the battle would consume all, to the point when the leader of the fire giants, Surt, will start a tremendous fire that will cover most of the world. They all gazed at the elder with sparkling eyes. A glorious battle that would consume everything, now that was something. The story was almost at an end, and the fire behind the elder had started to slumber. There was silence as the audience went through what they had heard.

"But have no fear young children,"she added, quite unneeded since most of the children didn't fear this at all. On the contrary, they longed for the chance of joining the army of the gods.

"This is not the end of everything,"she explained, "The earth will be overflowed by the sea as the battle ends. And with the water passing away, a clean earth will appear. There will be survivors, some of the younger gods, the sons of Odin and Thor and others; they will survive Ragnarök. They will start to rebuild the world, a world free of evil. And with them, a few humans will survive as well. They will be the chosen ones to repopulate the earth and rebuild Midgard[7]." No one said it; no one had ever mentioned who those chosen ones were. But for generations, there had always been a understanding among the young ones of Berk that it had to be the strongest, most clever and powerful among them, for it had to be the Vikings of Berk.

And with that, Gothi ended her tale, giving them all a warm smile and some words of wisdom before she went out of the firelight and away in search for a bucket of water. Storytelling can be make one quite thirsty.

While the smaller children started to disband in search for their parents, the teen-gang remained to talk about the story.

"The survivor, its gonna be me,"said Tuffnut, leaning back onto a barrel behind him with his head cradled in his hands. "Its my destiny,"he added with a smirk of his face.

"You? The survivor of Rangarök? Ha!" bursted out Snotlout, slapping the blond boy by his side.

"Yeah, I mean what makes you think you'll be the one?" added Fishlegs.

"I told you, its my destiny. I just know these things. Who else has the strength?" To this both Snotlout and Fishlegs objected.

"Of course Astrid will be the girl who survives,"continued Tuffnut, and to that none had anything to object. "So it will be our duty to 'repopulate' the earth." A hard laughter broke out in the group. Unfortunately for Tuffnut, the girl in question had been sitting just a few steps away with his twin sister Ruffnut, engaged in a girl-to-girl chat, and they had overheard the whole thing. Ruffnut would have thrown herself over her brother, starting yet another twin-fight, if it weren't for Astrid. As she stood up and walked over to the boys, Fishlegs and Snotlout, being the first to see her, fell into silence and quickly pointed at Tuffnut as if to say, "He said it!" No one dared to move or say anything as Astrid came up on Tuffnut's side. Looking up, he jumped to his feet in surprise.

"Oh, Astrid, We where just..." *Bam*

Tuffnut was twisting on the floor with both hands shielding his broken nose. They wouldn't hide nor hinder the blood that was now pouring out, though.

"OWW! OH OW! YOU BROKE MY NOSE!"he howled to the night sky. Astrid just gave him a frown and turned to the spot where Hiccup had been. It was then that she realized for the first time that the spot where Hiccup had been sitting during the story was empty.

"Where's Hiccup?"she asked, half to herself and half to the group. No one had noticed him leave, and right now they didn't really care, they where far too occupied laughing over the misfortune of the twisting teen on the ground.

"He went away," was all Fishlegs managed to say before joining Snotlout, standing over Tuffnut with a "who's the survivor now?" face.

Hiccup had made his way back to Gobber's shop sometime during the middle of the story. He had heard it before; it didn't thrill him back then and it certainly didn't thrill him now.

Gobber had already left for the night, but there was still a glow in the forge that kept the little house warm and let out a red light to chase the shadows away. Hiccup sat on the table, letting his leg and prosthesis dangle free in the air while he fingered his little dagger. It was small, and hardly satisfying of a weapon in time of danger. But Hiccup didn't use it as a weapon. He didn't need one. Somehow, he always thought that if he should be in danger, Toothless, his father, or someone else from Berk, maybe even Astrid, would be there to help him. And he didn't feel comfortable bearing weapons. With this dagger he could cut rope, carve wood, get a slice of bread, or something simple and peaceful that did not have a violent purpose.

His eyes followed the edge of the blade, but his mind was not present; it was far away, deep in his thought. He looked troubled.

Toothless was there, too. He had been watching the gathering around the bonfire from afar, but he had not been allowed to join them. Something about him being 'too big'. And as soon as Hiccup had snuck away from the group and started limping away down the street, Toothless had followed him, letting Hiccup put a hand around his neck to support himself as they made their way to the forge. Hiccup didn't always need support when he walked around. In fact, he walked mostly on his own by now. But when he was tired, or in a low spirits, strength seem to escape his leg and Toothless was quickly there to give him a helping hand, or neck.

He could tell that his rider was unhappy, although he didn't know why. He did his best to cheer his friend up. Sneaking up on the table the best he could, though not very stealthily since the whole table seemed to tremble beneath his weight, he put his nose to the boys bent neck and made two quick sniffs before releasing warm, moist air. This he knew would always make him laugh. He had found this weak spot of his friend's by accident one evening at Hiccup's house, when the boy had been sitting on a footstool by the fire drawing a new version of his prosthesis. The dragon had come up behind him, looking over his head to see what he was doing and accidentally released a bit too much air down his neck. This had made the boy laugh, making him misdraw a line. Toothless tried it again, and Hiccup had to put down the pencil, he was twisting too much. He tried it a third time, and the boy had gone nuts.

It always seemed to work, and Toothless hoped it would make him laugh once more. Hiccup did, but it was more of a reflex, and he was quickly back to his depressed state.

"Sorry bud, I'm just not in the mood tonight." He gave the dragon a light pat before turning back to his thoughts.

Astrid was heading towards the forge. If you wanted to find Hiccup - if he wasn't flying around on Toothless - that was the place to look. She was a bit frustrated why he had left without a word. They hadn't seen each other for a wile, and he had promise her they would spend some time after the storytelling.

She could tell that he was inside by the light escaping through the windows, but it was far too quiet. Standing in the doorway, she could see Hiccup sitting on the table, spinning his small dagger in his hand, while Toothless was standing by the fire, his ear bent backwards as he looking worriedly at Hiccup. As the dragon turned to Astrid, he lit up and his ears popped up, knowing she could make Hiccup normal.

"Hi there," Astrid said gently as she entered the forge,"You okay?"

Hiccup looked up from his dagger to see Astrid, giving her a quick glance before turning his focus back to his dagger.

"You seem troubled. Something on your mind?"she continued.

"No, its nothing. I'm fine" he said hardly any convincing.

"Look, if this is about what Tuffnut said, you shouldn't pay attention to that."

"What did Tuffnut say?"Hiccup asked, a bit confused.

"Oh, you didn't hear... Well, then what is it?"

"I told you, its nothing."

"Well, you seem quite depressed for 'nothing'."

"I said I'm fine." He jumped down from the table, trying to find something that he could focus his attention on.

"And I can tell you're not, now talk to me."

"No, its noth"-

"Hiccup."

"What!" There was a light tone of anger in his voice. Astrid could tell he was getting frustrated and she wondered if she should press this any further.

"Alright, then don't talk to me. Be like that if you want to." She turned her back to him with her arms crossed, but that only made him more frustrated.

"I just don't like listening to that story."

"About Ragnarök? Why not?" She turned halfway, but still marked that if he didn't want to talk to her, she wouldn't face him.

"Because, I don't like it." He answer, unwilling to say any more.

"Every Viking likes that tale." She said with a bit confusion.

"Well, I don't." He half looked away.

"Why not?" She was facing him once again.

"Just... because" He said again, still reluctant to give her any more.

"Because what? Will you just tell me." She was getting frustrated to by this game of chasing the answer and couldn't hide it in her voice.

Hiccup frustration exploded, and he just gave up any preservation. "I just don't like it okay! I hate it! I fear it!"The last word slip out before he could stop himself, a heavy silence broke out between them. Hiccup looked away, ashamed, like he thought what he had just said would make Astrid bust out in laughter. Astrid, on the other hand, tried to absorb what she had heard. Hiccup feared...death? Vikings learned at an early stage that death is natural and is nothing to be feared. In fact, an honorable death is desirable. A normal Viking knew that, but then again, Hiccup had proven over and over again that he wasn't 'normal'. She needed to try to comfort him, - she wanted to, but she knew that this wasn't her strongest asset. The whole 'talk about your feelings' was still new to her.

"Hiccup..." she started, not sure how to continue.

"I know, I know," Hiccup sighted heavenly, "I know death shouldn't be feared."

"Yeah, it's kind of pointless worrying about it." She wanted to slap herself the moment she said it. Way to go, Astrid.

"And I mean, it isn't like this is the first time you've heard the tale of Ragnarök. We've heard of it all our life and..." She stopped, realizing this was not much better than the comment before.

"Yes, I know but... that was before. It was different then,"Hiccup answered.

"Because?" she asked, sensing that somehow she just might get him to talk after all.

"Because, before I... I didn't have anything to lose. Back then I thought nothing of death or of Ragnarök more then an end of...of misery." This made Astrid quite puzzled and she didn't know what to say. All she could do was blink.

"Back then I never thought I would see Ragnarök, or if I did, it would be as the reserves in the army of Asgard. I pictured myself alone in a corner of the battlefield, waiting to be smashed by some giant or consumed by the fire or Surt. Death and Rangarök were... I didn't think I would mind it...It would just be the end. And... and I wouldn't have minded the end."

"...But?" She still wasn't sure what to say, but she looked for eye-contact, as she wanted him to continue, to know he could trust her with his feelings.

"But now I do." He looked up at her, and their eyes met. "Now everything is different. I have Toothless, and I love him. It feels like me and my father have finally found each other after so long. It feels like if I won back my tribe, and I have... I have..." He hesitated.

"You have me,"she finished, more of a statement than a question.

"I have you...and all this,"he gestured to everything around him, as if he somehow could sum up everything in his life in a single sweep. "I don't want to lose it."

"But you won't," Astrid said, finally able to speak, "We're together now, all of us. Nothing lasts forever, that's the way things are." To that, Hiccup's eyes saddened once more, and he looked down. "But as my grandfather use to say: there is no end, only new beginnings. And Hiccup, Ragnarök is far, far away, you know that. It will be a hundred years of shrinking summers, and three years of constant winter before Ragnarök will come to pass.[8]"

"I know, but it will come."

"And when it does, it will be a small price to pay for what we have right now,"she finished. To that Hiccup had no answer. His fears had always lied in the distant before him, fear of losing and fear of being left alone again. But he wasn't alone. And when he thought it over, what he had today, he was willing to pay dearly to keep just a little longer.

"Besides, didn't you hear Gothi,"she added, "There will be survivors, and...I am sure we will be one of them."

"You will. Not me. I'm still weak and clumsy and..."

"But Hiccup, it's different now."

"No, it's not. That's where you are all wrong. You think I'm some kind of strong, powerful hero, but I'm not! I'm still the same person I was before I defeated the Red Death, before the dragons."

"Yes, you are the same, but Berk has changed. We have changed,"she said, her voice strong and forcing herself to keep eye contact with him so he knew that she was sincere. "And you said it yourself, you're not alone anymore. You have us, you have your tribe, the mighty Stoick the Vast behind you. You have Toothless, a powerful Night Fury, and with whom you defeated the largest and most dangerous dragon known to Vikings. Just imagine what you can do to the giants. And you have...me. And I will stand beside you. Together we will aid the gods and defeat evil. And when it's all over, I'm sure that we will survive." She was so sure on this that she almost convinced Hiccup on the spot.

"Just think about it, who else will ever be able to escape the consuming fires of Surt?"she continued, "Us, riding on the backs of dragons above the accursed flames. You've already escaped fire before."

"Well, most of me" Hiccup added, trying to make it a joke.

"And we'll do it again."

Hiccup sighed. He still had his doubts about certain things, but the words Astrid said did ease his worries. Maybe she did have some points, and it is really was no good worrying about the future.

"Well, I need to go - chores to do before I can call it a night,"she said suddenly. She didn't want to leave, but she knew that if she didn't do what needed to be done back home, she wouldn't be allowed to see Hiccup again for a long time. It was the lesser of two evils, she reasoned. And she guessed he needed some time alone to think this over. If he still had doubt tomorrow, she was just have to force him to believe her.

"Oh yeah, good point. Well, thanks for"- he was interrupted by Astrid, grabbing him by the shirt and leaning forward. She rested her check on him, clinging on to the moment, before giving him a long peck on the check.

"I'm glad we had this talk,"she whispered in his ear. And with that, she turned, heading for the door.

"Ast... Astrid?"

With a hand on the door-frame she looked back. "Yeah?"

"...Thanks." She smiled warmly at him, and he found himself smiling back. And with that, she left the shop. But as Hiccup sat down again on the table, she popped her head through the window.

"And one more thing." Hiccup looked up, a bit confused at her. "When we do survive Ragnarök, it will be our duty to repopulate the earth." And then she was gone, leaving a stricken dumb Hiccup behind. He just sat there, blushing more than ever as if his brain had exploded. Suddenly a big shadow appeared behind him. There was two quick sniffs, and then a wet nose sent warm moist air down his neck. It made the boy burst out into pure happy laughter as he hugged his dragon.


Footnotes:

1: Gothi, Dreamworks name for the elder of Berk, is an Old Norse word for "priest"

2: Mani is the Old Norse name for the (first) moon god

3: Hel is the name for the daughter of Loki, who dwells in the underworld where punished souls are banished. Therefor the realm itself has also been given the name Hel.

4: Not kidding, this is Old Norse for "nail-ship," the ship that will bring the giants to Midgard. It is believed to be made by the nails of those who dies, and whose corpses are defiled by the giants as there souls moves on. Viking often cremated there dead (not saying this is the reason why), but it is knows that sometimes Vikings would remove the nails from a dead body, if cremation couldn't be done, to prevent the ship of being finish.

5: A common misunderstanding is that every Viking that dies and comes to Asgard will be gathered in Valhalla. This is not so, Odin will take half, while the other half will go to the goddess Freyja. A goddess in both love and war.

6: Actually very little is said about the dragons and their part in Ragnarök. Jormungand is the only sea dragon/serpent to be mentioned, and he was a child of Loki.

7: Now the real tale tells of just two, a man and a woman, Lif and Lifthrasir. But for the sake of the story I changed this.

8: As it is foretold, and with global worming I guess Ragnarök is still far away :)


There, my first attempt. Please review and let me know what you think about how I try to blend the two worlds. Is it a good idea, should I continue make more? Any thoughts are appreciated.

Now I know this version of Ragnarök has been cut down a tiny bit to fit the story, telling it in its full would take to long time. But beside the little changes I made myself, which I have marked in the text, this is the real Ragnarök as it is told here in the ancient Viking home of Sweden, and I have tried to stay as true to it as I can. If you have any questions about it, or anything ells concerning Vikings for that matter, feel free to send me a PM, I would love that.

And I want to point out for those of you who is picky with spelling of names. I might sometimes mix up Old Norse with the Swedish way of spelling, but related as they are it shouldn't be more then a letter or two that differ.

If you do like the chapter, a lot of credits should go to my beta-reader LadyLore56, she has been a true blessing send from Freyja herself.