Þýdal

Þýdal, also spelled Thydal and glossed as “dale on the river Thi,” was a small farming village up the river Þý from Niðaróss in what is now Norway. It sat in a dale where the rivers Þý and Nea meet. Before the horde attacked, about 40 families lived in Þýdal, most as simple farmers. The village had one blacksmith forge, no stores, and otherwise consisted of longhouses spread among large gardens. Most families kept sheep, a few goats, several chickens, and many also had pigs. Þýdal is connected to the early warning and refugee story that leads into Fires at the Fjordgate. It was the first village attacked by the goblin, orc, and giant horde, and it was taken before the horde advanced toward the fjord.

• Type: Inland farming village / refugee origin.
• Region: Where the rivers Þý and Nea meet, upriver from Niðaróss.
• First known appearance: Earlier Viking campaign material before Fires at the Fjordgate.

• Amelia Frodedottir survived the group that discovered the army was coming and brought warning back to Þýdal.
• Jarl Hoffer Magnuson called a Thing after Amelia's warning; the village chose to stand and fight rather than immediately flee.
• Gobber Haraldson led construction of a timber-pole palisade.
• A group from Þýdal sought warriors from nearby villages.
• A group from Þýdal investigated a recent meteor to the north and returned with star metal for the smiths.
• After one star-metal weapon showed magical properties, Alwin Silverthorn remembered old stories of a wizard's tower.
• A group from Þýdal discovered Fróð Erikson's Tower in a hidden, overgrown valley, freed a trapped spider family, released Fróð from the Amber Barrel, and received Amber Pouches.
• A scout reported the horde approaching after it built a crude road through the swamp for its war machines; the village spent two frantic days finishing defenses.
• On a bright, cold, moonlit night, giants, orcs, goblins, and war machines attacked; women and children had already moved animals to the docks in case of retreat.
• Battlefield highlights of the defense are recorded in The Night Þýdal Fell (including Fróð's fireball, individual hero stands, Thordak felling a giant, and Tor's goliath charge from the north).
• Þýdal's defenders killed at least three giants, dozens of orcs, and perhaps as many as a hundred goblins (reported by Hoffer at Aunet) before the palisade began to fail.
• Hoffer called a strategic retreat to the docks; the goliaths returned to the mountains and Fróð transported himself away.
• Survivors and defenders fled by longboat through Aunet, Gressli, and Mebonden toward Niðaróss, where red-cloth longhouses and Anidori's helpers welcomed them.
• Fróð helped defend Þýdal before returning to his tower.
• Several heroes later remembered at Niðaróss had earlier fought at or for Þýdal, including Amelia, Thordak, Sally, Melody, and Fróð.
• Jarl Hoffer Magnuson was the jarl of Þýdal and later lent the river-road reclamation party a small longship to travel upriver toward the village.

• Amelia Frodedottir.
• Fróð Erikson.
• Jarl Hoffer Magnuson.
• Thordak Faerdhal.
• Sally Swift.
• Melody Marigold.
• Sanura Sefu.
• Kris Stormblade.
• Crag Torson.
• Isar Geirson.
• Screech Hawthorne.
• Buggy Uwu.
• Alwin Silverthorn.
• Gobber Haraldson.
• Gunhild Steinarsdottir.

• Goblin, orc, and giant horde.
• Refugees of Þýdal.
• Defenders of Niðaróss.
• Goliath allies led by Tor.

• Fróð Erikson's Tower.
• Sky-Stone and Draugrveiki.
• The Night Þýdal Fell.
• Fires at the Fjordgate.
• The River Road to Ruined Villages.