Chapter 113: Knotted Heartstrings

*Furthermore, while Haddock was indeed responsible for a large number of scientific and technical advances in the aftermath of his taming of dragons, it is inaccurate in the extreme to assign* all *of these advances to him. Other individuals, spurred on by the new capabilities that now existed, began to develop their own innovations and insights.*

*Haddock invented many things, that is without question, with a lengthy list ranging from the famous wingsuit that allowed a person to glide through the air and land safely, to the more prosaic infrastructural and production tools such as the elevator, drop-forge, and spinning wheel, but within his own lifetime, as a direct result of exposure to dragons and the possibilities and necessities they opened up, others also showed that they were capable of innovation in the right environment. The list of inventions from this period as a direct result of interactions with dragons includes such things as the barometer, the canal pound lock, buttons, eyeglasses, and stern-mounted rudders, while still others worked on refining and isolating chemical compounds and elements extracted from dragons.*

*More people also aided in developing the area of cartography, with leaps of innovation in surveying and mapmaking—the first "dragon's eye" maps, showing the layouts of cities and regions from above, were made within two years of Haddock's taming of dragons. And, despite the efforts of those who wish to assign him the credit, he had nothing to do with any of these beyond preparing the ground for others.*

*—The Genius Has No Clothes: An Alternate View Of Innovation, 1818*

## Major Events

* Hiccup does a successful test of the flight suit and the fallskarm (parachute).
* Toireasa realises she's fallen for Dagur.
* William and the other youths of Berk test the standardised rules for iománaíocht.
* Jonna, Reidun and Gobber announce Reidun is pregnant.
* Eret learns from Wulfhild how concubinage works on Berk and is informed Camilla and Merida are eyeing him as a potential concubine.
* The councillors approve's Mulan's plan of finding Berk. She will go with a merchant's caravan and joining her are Captain Shang and the soldiers Yao, Ling, and Chien Po. She is disguising herself as a man named Ping to prevent unwanted attention.
* Padraig shares with Wulfhild his idea of identity numbers to make it easier to track the payments for Food and Bed Rights.

## Characters

### Humans

* Hiccup clan Haddock
* Fearghus mac Flann
* Astrid Hákonsdóttir clan Haddock
* Wulfhild of Norway
* Toiréasa
* Rodhlaug nic Savage
* William of Normandy
* Duckquack Hensteethsson
* Picknose Rolfsson
* Rúna clan Hofferson (first appearance)
* Wallnut clan Thorston
* Orvi clan Hofferson
* Svein clan Hofferson
* Hedgelout (first appearance)
* Cami Berthasdóttir
* Merida Dunbroch
* Gobber the Belch
* Jonna Asgersdóttir
* Reidun Hemmingsdóttir
* Fa Mulan
* Li Shang
* Yao (first appearance)
* Ling (first appearance)
* Chien Po (first appearance)
* Rivkah
* Asta Rhonda Hiccupsdóttir

### Dragons

* Toothless
* Stormfly
* Mistletoe

## Analysis

### Epigraph Tie-In

* The epigraphs talks about Hiccup's various inventions and developments. The chapter shows Hiccup successfully testing the flight suit and the fallskarm (parachute).
* The epigraph mentions that other people made numerous inventions and developments. The chapter shows:
	+ The youths of Berk testing the standardised rules for iománaíocht.
	+ Padraig coming up with the idea of identity numbers to make it easier to track the payments for Food and Bed Rights.
	+ Gobber inventing standard sets of bronze weights to make sure the weighing of the scales for the Food and Bed Rights payments are fair and consistent.