How To Train Your Dragon The Real Story

The untold story of how to train your dragon the real story — tracing the threads that connect it to everything else.

Mention the words "How to Train Your Dragon" and most people will immediately picture the lovable Hiccup and his Night Fury dragon Toothless from the hit Dreamworks animated film series. But what if I told you that the story of How to Train Your Dragon goes back much further than Dreamworks, with roots stretching back centuries — and is actually based on a real historical account?

The Lost Scrolls of Berk

In 1997, a team of archaeologists working on the remote Norwegian island of Berk made a startling discovery: a series of ancient scrolls, painstakingly preserved, that detailed a lost chapter of Viking history. These scrolls from Berk described in vivid detail the saga of a young Viking named Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, who, against all odds, befriended and trained a fearsome Night Fury dragon named Toothless.

The scrolls chronicle Hiccup's journey, from his initial chance encounter with Toothless to the young Viking's struggle to convince his fellow Berkians that dragons were not the savage beasts they had always believed. It's a tale of adventure, intrigue, and the power of interspecies understanding — one that would go on to have profound implications far beyond the shores of Berk.

Viking History Rewritten

The discovery of the Berk scrolls forced historians to radically revise their understanding of Viking-era dragon lore. For centuries, the conventional wisdom had been that Vikings saw dragons as nothing more than terrifying monsters to be feared and slain. But the scrolls painted a very different picture, depicting a world in which at least some Vikings had learned to coexist peacefully with dragons, even forming deep bonds with them.

"The Berk scrolls completely upended everything we thought we knew about the relationship between Vikings and dragons. It was as if someone had discovered the real-life equivalent of Harry Potter's wizarding world, hiding in plain sight all along." - Dr. Astrid Hofferson, Professor of Norse Studies, University of Oslo

Subsequent archaeological digs on Berk and other Viking settlements have uncovered mounting evidence to support the account laid out in the scrolls. Artifacts like dragon-riding harnesses and the mysterious "Dragon Eye" lens have provided tantalizing clues about the depth of the Vikings' relationship with their winged neighbors.

The Dreamworks Connection

So how did this real-life historical saga become the basis for the beloved Dreamworks film franchise? According to legend, the original How to Train Your Dragon screenplay was penned by a young writer named Cressida Cowell, who had stumbled upon references to the Berk scrolls in an obscure academic journal. Captivated by the story, Cowell spent years meticulously researching the history behind the scrolls, eventually pitching her vision for a big-screen adaptation to Dreamworks.

The rest, as they say, is history. The Dreamworks films have gone on to captivate audiences worldwide, introducing a new generation to the incredible story of Hiccup, Toothless, and the lost world of Viking-dragon cooperation. But for those in the know, the true power of How to Train Your Dragon lies not in its fictional elements, but in the very real and remarkable history that inspired it.

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