This Kransen is worn by Astrid Hofferson on her head throughout the entire DreamWorks Dragons franchise.
Development[]
A Viking kransen (Nordic definition roughly translating as "head wreath") was a real accessory worn by unmarried girls during special occasions. Traditionally, it was passed down from mother to daughter, so a single kransen could last for many generations. Before her wedding ceremony, a girl would have it ceremoniously removed by her female attendants and replaced by a "wedding crown" to symbolize the end of her maidenhood. It would then be carefully preserved so it could be passed down to her daughter when she had one.
In the DreamWorks Dragons franchise, Astrid wears hers every day, and appears to be wearing a new one in each feature film.
History[]
Astrid's Childhood[]
In early concept art, Astrid is shown to be wearing a helmet like the other teens, and when she appears at age five in "Fright of Passage", she's wearing a helmet instead of a kransen. However, in later concept art of her at age ten, she is wearing a simple dark leather band void of any decoration. Other concept art shows her kransen threaded with beads or decorated with braids or other adornments.
The first film and TV series[]
Astrid is seen wearing the same kransen from her first introduction to the end of the TV series. It is worn over her hair in the back, and goes under her long bangs across her forehead in the front. By the age of 18, she's added a small braid over it on the left side, which joins up to her larger braid.
The kransen is also replicated in the live theater production of the first movie - the How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular. It is a metallic leather band with button-like metal circles around it.
How to Train Your Dragon 2[]
Sometime between the last events of Dragons: Race to the Edge and the second film, Astrid starts wearing a new kransen. Although her hairstyle has changed slightly, she wears the kransen in the same manner as she had since the beginning, looping round and through various locks of hair.
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World[]
Over the duration of the film, Astrid may be wearing yet another new kransen, or possibly added decorations to the one she was wearing in the second film. As Astrid's hair is worn down in this film, the kransen is slightly less visible, and shows itself chiefly at her forehead.
For the first time in the franchise other young Berkian girls that appear in the background are seen wearing kransens similar to Astrid's childhood one.
She is first seen without it during her wedding ceremony, when she has it replaced with a flower crown, though she is seen wearing it again many years later. Her daughter, Zephyr, is then seen wearing a kransen identical to Astrid's first one, which would be true to the Viking culture of a mother passing her kransen onto her daughter.
Homecoming and Snoggletog Log[]
Astrid appears to be wearing the same kransen she had worn in the third film, worn over long braided pigtails in the back, and under wispy bangs in the front. Zephyr however is wearing a slightly thicker red kransen than the one she wore in the film, which may or may not have once belonged to her mother. Other young girls in the village are also seen wearing them.
Physical Appearance[]
In How to Train Your Dragon and DreamWorks Dragons: The Series, Astrid's kransen is a brown leather band with two sizes of metal studs embedded into it for decoration.
In How to Train Your Dragon 2, Astrid wears a slightly slimmer leather band that is void of any decoration.
In How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Astrid appears to be wearing a similar leather band with embossed spikes on the front inspired by her dragon Stormfly, and metal studs along the back and sides. She's still wearing it in Homecoming and Snoggletog Log, however the embossed spikes are now gilded in gold.
Function[]
- Symbolism: To symbolize a Viking girl's maidenhood.
- Decoration: Traditionally they were only worn as additional adornment during special occasions, though they are worn as part of everyday apparel in the franchise.
Appearances[]
Films and Shorts | ||||||||||||
"How to Train Your Dragon": | Appears | "How to Train Your Dragon 2": | Appears | |||||||||
"Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon": | Appears | "Dawn of the Dragon Racers": | Appears | |||||||||
"Book of Dragons (Short)": | Appears | "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World": | Appears | |||||||||
"Gift of the Night Fury": | Appears | "How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming": | Appears |
Riders of Berk | |||||||||
1. "How to Start a Dragon Academy": | Appears | 11. "Heather Report, Part 2": | Appears | ||||||
2. "Viking for Hire": | Appears | 12. "Thawfest": | Appears | ||||||
3. "Animal House": | Appears | 13. "When Lightning Strikes": | Appears | ||||||
4. "The Terrible Twos": | Appears | 14. "What Flies Beneath": | Appears | ||||||
5. "In Dragons We Trust": | Appears | 15. "Twinsanity": | Appears | ||||||
6. "Alvin and the Outcasts": | Appears | 16. "Defiant One": | Appears | ||||||
7. "How to Pick Your Dragon": | Appears | 17. "Breakneck Bog": | Appears | ||||||
8. "Portrait of Hiccup as a Buff Man": | Appears | 18. "Gem of a Different Color": | Appears | ||||||
9. "Dragon Flower": | Appears | 19. "We Are Family, Part 1": | Appears | ||||||
10. "Heather Report, Part 1": | Appears | 20. "We Are Family, Part 2": | Appears |
Defenders of Berk | |||||||||
1. "Live and Let Fly": | Appears | 11. "A View to a Skrill, Part 2": | Absent | ||||||
2. "The Iron Gronckle": | Appears | 12. "The Flight Stuff": | Appears | ||||||
3. "The Night and the Fury": | Appears | 13. "Free Scauldy": | Appears | ||||||
4. "Tunnel Vision": | Appears | 14. "Frozen": | Appears | ||||||
5. "Race to Fireworm Island": | Appears | 15. "A Tale of Two Dragons": | Appears | ||||||
6. "Fright of Passage": | Appears | 16. "The Eel Effect": | Appears | ||||||
7. "Worst in Show": | Appears | 17. "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes": | Appears | ||||||
8. "Appetite for Destruction": | Appears | 18. "Bing! Bam! Boom!": | Appears | ||||||
9. "Zippleback Down": | Appears | 19. "Cast Out, Part 1": | Appears | ||||||
10. "A View to a Skrill, Part 1": | Appears | 20. "Cast Out, Part 2": | Appears |
Race to the Edge, Season 1 | |||||||||
1. "Dragon Eye of the Beholder, Part 1": | Appears | 8. "Crushing It": | Appears | ||||||
2. "Dragon Eye of the Beholder, Part 2": | Appears | 9. "Quake, Rattle and Roll": | Appears | ||||||
3. "Imperfect Harmony": | Appears | 10. "Have Dragon Will Travel, Part 1": | Appears | ||||||
4. "When Darkness Falls": | Appears | 11. "Have Dragon Will Travel, Part 2": | Appears | ||||||
5. "Big Man on Berk": | Appears | 12. "The Next Big Sting": | Appears | ||||||
6. "Gone Gustav Gone": | Appears | 13. "Total Nightmare": | Appears | ||||||
7. "Reign of Fireworms": | Appears |
Race to the Edge, Season 2 | |||||||||
1. "Team Astrid": | Appears | 8. "Edge of Disaster, Part 1": | Appears | ||||||
2. "Night of the Hunters, Part 1": | Appears | 9. "Edge of Disaster, Part 2": | Appears | ||||||
3. "Night of the Hunters, Part 2": | Appears | 10. "Shock and Awe": | Appears | ||||||
4. "Bad Moon Rising": | Appears | 11. "A Time to Skrill": | Appears | ||||||
5. "Snotlout Gets the Axe": | Appears | 12. "Maces and Talons, Part 1": | Appears | ||||||
6. "The Zippleback Experience": | Appears | 13. "Maces and Talons, Part 2": | Appears | ||||||
7. "Snow Way Out": | Appears |
Race to the Edge, Season 3 | |||||||||
1. "Enemy of My Enemy": | Appears | 8. "Stryke Out": | Appears | ||||||
2. "Crash Course": | Appears | 9. "Tone Death": | Appears | ||||||
3. "Follow the Leader": | Appears | 10. "Between a Rock and a Hard Place": | Appears | ||||||
4. "Turn and Burn": | Absent | 11. "Family on the Edge": | Appears | ||||||
5. "Buffalord Soldier": | Appears | 12. "Last Auction Heroes": | Appears | ||||||
6. "A Grim Retreat": | Appears | 13. "Defenders of the Wing, Part 1": | Appears | ||||||
7. "To Heather or Not to Heather": | Appears |
Race to the Edge, Season 4 | |||||||||
1. "Defenders of the Wing, Part 2": | Appears | 8. "Gold Rush": | Appears | ||||||
2. "Gruff Around the Edges": | Appears | 9. "Out of the Frying Pan": | Appears | ||||||
3. "Midnight Scrum": | Appears | 10. "Twintuition": | Appears | ||||||
4. "Not Lout": | Appears | 11. "Blindsided": | Appears | ||||||
5. "Saving Shattermaster": | Appears | 12. "Shell Shocked, Part 1": | Appears | ||||||
6. "Dire Straits": | Appears | 13. "Shell Shocked, Part 2": | Appears | ||||||
7. "The Longest Day": | Appears |
Race to the Edge, Season 5 | |||||||||
1. "Living on the Edge": | Appears | 8. "The Wings of War, Part 1": | Appears | ||||||
2. "Sandbusted": | Appears | 9. "The Wings of War, Part 2": | Appears | ||||||
3. "Something Rotten on Berserker Island": | Appears | 10. "No Dragon Left Behind": | Appears | ||||||
4. "Snotlout's Angels": | Appears | 11. "Snuffnut: | Appears | ||||||
5. "A Matter of Perspective": | Appears | 12. "Searching for Oswald... and Chicken": | Appears | ||||||
6. "Return of Thor Bonecrusher": | Appears | 13. "Sins of the Past": | Appears | ||||||
7. "Dawn of Destruction": | Appears |
Race to the Edge, Season 6 | |||||||||
1. "In Plain Sight": | Appears | 8. "Triple Cross": | Appears | ||||||
2. "No Bark, All Bite": | Appears | 9. "Family Matters": | Appears | ||||||
3. "Chain of Command": | Appears | 10. "Darkest Night": | Appears | ||||||
4. "Loyal Order of Ingerman": | Appears | 11. "Guardians of Vanaheim": | Appears | ||||||
5. "A Gruff Separation": | Appears | 12. "King of Dragons, Part 1": | Appears | ||||||
6. "Mi Amore Wing": | Appears | 13. "King of Dragons, Part 2": | Appears | ||||||
7. "Ruff Transition": | Appears |
Comics | ||||||||||||
"Dragon Down": | Appears | "The Legend of Ragnarok": | Appears | |||||||||
"Dangers of the Deep": | Appears | "Underworld": | Appears | |||||||||
"The Ice Castle": | Appears | "The Endless Night": | Appears | |||||||||
"The Stowaway": | Appears | "Snowmageddon": | Appears |
Graphic Novels | ||||||||||||
"Burning Midnight": | Appears | "Dragonvine": | Appears | |||||||||
"The Serpent's Heir": | Appears | "The Fire Tides": | Appears |
Games | ||||||||||||
"Dragons: Rise of Berk": | Appears | "School of Dragons": | Appears | |||||||||
"How to Train Your Dragon": | Appears | "How to Train Your Dragon 2": | Appears | |||||||||
"DreamWorks Dragons: Wild Skies": | Absent | "DreamWorks Dragons: Dawn of New Riders": | Appears | |||||||||
"Dragons: Titan Uprising": | Appears | "Dragons Hero Portal": | Appears | |||||||||
"DreamWorks Dragons: Legends of The Nine Realms": | Absent |
Other Media | ||||||||||||
"How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular": | Appears | "How to Train Your Dragon ON ICE": | Absent | |||||||||
"Dreamworks Press: Dragons": | Absent | "Snoggletog Log": | Appears | |||||||||
"Racing For The Gold": | Appears |
Trivia[]
- If the DreamWorks Dragons franchise stayed true to known Nordic tradition, it can be assumed that the kransen had previously belonged to Astrid's mother.
- Astrid is seen without the kransen for the first time during her wedding, which would have been culturally accurate; however she is seen wearing it again many years later as a wife and mother, which is historically incorrect since kransens were only meant to be worn by unmarried young girls.
- When mentioned as a part of Astrid's outfit, it has only ever been called a "headband" rather than a "kransen".
- Early concept art of Heather had her wearing a kransen.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ "Zephyr and Nuffink" (Date Posted - January 27, 2019). Twitter.