Chapter 121: Level Foundations

### Story Date

Tuesday, 26 April, AD 1043/6551 ε.Κ/13 Ramadan 434 AH/13 Huai-Yue Huangyou Era Year 1/13 Harpa ÅrO -1

## Appearances

### Locations

Eigg
Berk
Islas Canarias
Almatu
Vedrarfjord

***Supernova 1054***

***Constellation:** Taurus*

***Distance:** 6.5 kilolight-years*

***Remnant:** Nebula*

***SN 1054** is a supernova that was first observed on 4 July AD 1054, and remained visible until c. 6 April 1056. The event was recorded in numerous contemporary astronomical sources, including Zhōngguó, Nippon, Islamic, and European, as well as in petrographs associated with the Hisatsinom culture. Furthermore, it is historically noteworthy and significant as being one of the instigating factors in Magni Hiccupsson House Haddock’s initial astronomical synlengra experiments, which began a new age of observational astronomy in the coming decades and centuries. One aspect of these studies is that the remnants of SN 1054 have been extensively tracked, with new and increasingly larger synlengra constructed as the supernova remnants faded over time. The remnants of SN 1054, known as the Magni Nebula, consists of debris ejected during the explosion, and is located in the sky near the star Zeta Tauri, with the core of the exploding star having formed a pulsar, called the Magni Pulsar. Due to the centuries of close examination, and as one of the few Galactic supernovae where the date of the explosion is well-known, the nebula and the pulsar it contains are some of the most well-studied astronomical objects outside of the solar system, with the two objects being the most luminous of their types in their respective categories.*

*[…]*

***Cultural Significance:***

*The supernova was received as a supernatural portent in the immediate aftermath of the wedding of Tuffnut Thicknutsson House Thorston and his first wife, Princess Mór of the Isle of Mann, performed on 3 July AD 1054. The pair had attempted to wed in ceremony repeatedly over the preceding eleven years as a betrothed couple, despite technically qualifying as a common law marriage between their extended cohabitation and the births of five children in that time.*

*According to contemporary sources, the wagering on what might interrupt the wedding on this latest attempt included “another war,” “The Apocalypse,” volcanic eruptions, the blotting out of the sun by an eclipse, and several other types of natural and supernatural disasters, with the longest odds on offer given to the nuptials going through successfully. Several primary sources from the subsequent court cases indicate that the odds were universally set in excess of a hundred to one by different odds-makers, with the highest value being 400:1 against the ceremony going through without incident.*

*When the supernova was observed the day after the wedding ceremony had taken place, several odds-makers claimed it as a portent and attempted to avoid making their ruinous payments to the winning wagerers. This resulted in a number of lawsuits, the proceedings of which have been portrayed in dramatic and educational productions repeatedly over the ensuing centuries…*

*—SN 1054 (n.d.). In Wikikenna. Retrieved 9 March, 1852*

## Major Events

* Ruffnut meets the actors she put out a call for, who have arrived in Eigg from Greece.
* Stoick holds a summit with the aristocrats subordinate to him to discuss how citizenship will work in Hooligan territories.
* Ryker advises Viggo to go back to his kingdom while he tries to break through the communication barrier and secure the aid of the native people in taming the dragons in the Canary Islands.
* Mor reveals to Tuffnut that she's pregnant and Tuffnut proposes to her, which she accepts.
* Drago meets Kelebek prior to their wedding and they get along well.
* Fintan helps Bébinn find employment as a mason.

## Characters

### Humans

* Ruffnut Thicknutsdóttir
* Silas (first appearance)
* Phillipos of Thessaloniki (first appearance)
* Stoick the Vast
* Bladewit Drorsdóttir
* Elinor Dunbroch
* Fergus Dunbroch
* Big-Boobied Bertha
* Mór nic Echmarcach
* Esther bat Rivkah
* Rikard Ruadhsson
* Jonna Asgersdóttir
* Clodgall Oxwitsson
* Toirdelbach ua Briain
* Hardnut Oaknutsson (unnamed)
* Viggo Grimborn
* Ryker Grimborn
* Magnus the Good
* Wulfhild of Norway
* Gobber the Belch
* Tuffnut Thicknutsson
* Drago Bludvist
* Mahir of the Kara-Khanids (first appearance)
* Khassan (first appearance)
* Özhan of the Bayat (first appearance)
* Akdoğan, Qosta of the Boru-Tolmač (first appearance)
* Khurşӑ
* Kelebek (first appearance)
* Astrid Hákonsdóttir clan Haddock
* Hiccup clan Haddock
* Asta Rhonda Hiccupsdóttir
* Valka Zephyr Hiccupsdóttir
* Fintan mac Ionatan
* Bébinn nic Sechnall (first appearance)
* Teàrlag Eimhirsdóttir (first appearance)

### Dragons

* Thornado

## Analysis

### Epigraph Tie-In

* The epigraph mentions Tuffnut's and Mor's wedding in 1054. The chapter shows Tuffnut proposing to Mor who accepts.