| “ | The Dragon Manual. Everything we know about every dragon we know of. [src] | ” |
| — Gobber |
The Dragon Manual, also frequently referred to as the Book of Dragons, is a Viking encyclopedia of all the dragon species discovered by the Hooligan Tribe. Considered an important piece of knowledge, it is how the Vikings of Berk know the weaknesses and methods needed to slay the dragons.
History
Book of Dragons
The Book of Dragons was written by Gobber's great-great-great grandfather, Bork the Bold — once known as Bork the Very, Very Unfortunate. He had many encounters with dragons, and while failing in other pursuits, excelled at cataloguing everything he learned. The original line, "Kill on sight," came from Bork the Bold .
After that, it was handed to the members of the Berk Dragon Training Academy to gain more knowledge on dragons and to add more information. It helps them understand the abilities, weaknesses, and behavior of the dragons, helping them study and train dragons easier.
Hiccup is shown doing the major re-write and update of the Manual, assisted with the personal observations his friends have made with their own dragons.
How to Train Your Dragon
The Dragon Manual is given to the students of Dragon Training in order for them to study up on the dragons they will be facing in future sessions. Apart from Astrid and Fishlegs who have already read it, the rest of the group don't appear to be keen on studying the Manual.
Later on that same night, Hiccup returns to the Great Hall to try and find any information on Night Furies, hoping to use the book to try and approach the one he shot down. The Manual proves to be fruitless, only warning him that Night Furies are considered too dangerous to try and kill and should be avoided at all costs.
Dragons: Riders of Berk
Fishlegs and Hiccup add a drawing and information on a new species to the Manual - the Typhoomerang - in "The Terrible Twos".
The book played an important role in "Heather Report, Part 1" and "Heather Report, Part 2", when Heather steals the book for the Outcasts in exchange for her parents.
In "Gem of a Different Color", Hiccup added an illustration of a Changewing in the book.
Dragons: Defenders of Berk
In "Cast Out, Part 2", Fishlegs adds the Screaming Death to the Book of Dragons.
Dragons: Race to the Edge
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School of Dragons
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This section requires expansion. |
Dragons: Rise of Berk
The Book of Dragons appears in this game as the player's personal book showing all the dragons they have collected.
Smudgeon the Terrible Terror has left his inked footprints all over the Dragon Manual when Fishlegs is trying to write in it.
Dragons: Titan Uprising
The Book of Dragons appears in this game as the player's personal book showing all the dragons they have collected.
Thunderclaws, specifically Sturmundrang, are listed in the Book of Dragons. It details that Sturmundrang behaves differently than typical Thunderclaws and points out a very specific method of earning this dragon's trust and loyalty: monkfish, sagefruit, and lots of time.
Physical Appearance
Language (in the film)
The language used in the Dragon Manual consists of a language that Vikings in Berk use to read and write. Some letters share the same symbols such as w, v, u, o, and y; e and i; s and z; etc. The language lacks punctuation and some letters such as the letter x uses "cs" or "ks". Few letters, such as the letter q, are unidentifiable because it's not mentioned in the film. Other texts consist of symbols that have no meaning or organization. Other than the film, the language appears in animated webisodes.
The language used in the film is a modified version of a mix between Elder Futhark/Anglo-Frisian runes and English.
The dragons are miscellaneously placed in the Dragon Manual instead of being listed in classes.
In the film
- Extremely dangerous
- Kill on sight
- Burns its victim
- Buries its victim
- Chokes its victim
- Turns its victim inside-out
- Thunderdrum
- This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tidepools.
- When startled the Thunderdrum produces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range.
- Referred to as Glen's Thorn named after the great warrior, may he rest in Valhalla.
- Timberjack
- This gigantic creature has razor-sharp wings that can slice through full grown trees.
- These claws are very powerful, one claw can easily support the creature's weight. They have been known to rip through old Norse maple bark. Not a small task to put it lightly.
- Scauldron
- Sprays scalding water at its victim.
- Changewing
- Even newly hatched dragons can spray acid.
- Gronckle, Hideous Zippleback, Skrill, Deadly Nadder, Boneknapper, Speed Stinger, Snaptrapper, and Whispering Death
- Night Fury
- Speed unknown
- Size unknown
- The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon.
- Your only chance, hide and pray it does not find you.
Dragons Species Appearing in the Book
- Stoker Class
- Boulder Class
- Sharp Class
- Tidal Class
- Mystery Class
- Strike Class
- Tracker Class
Errors
As it is displayed in the movie, the Dragon Manual has many errors throughout it.
- On the second page of the Thunderdrum, the two lines written consist of "This reclusive dragon" four times on the first line, and "Inhabits sea caves" four times on the second line.
- The Scauldron's page in the Dragon Manual has a line from the Timberjack's page: "This gigantic creature has razor-sharp wings that can slice through full-grown trees."
- All of the dragon pages have 'Extremely Dangerous, Kill on Sight,' where we would normally expect the text Hiccup is reading, most often multiple times across the page (although, this could just be to place emphasis on killing on sight).
- After Hiccup reads off the four ways the dragons kill people (while the camera is on him) the second page he lands on has three red drawings and two labels. The label on the left reads 'Extremely' and the one on the right, 'Dangerous'.
- A picture of the Deadly Nadder appears on the opposite pages of the one the camera is pointing at several times.
- Several images of Vikings killing the Thunderdrum, Scauldron, and Gronckle appear several times.
- As a fill-in, the extra text, translating as only the traditional Elder Futhark/Anglo-Saxon alphabet, is displayed in mirror image.
- They said "there is no info about the Screaming Death in the book" but it was mentioned that "in the book it said that it only hatches in 100 years" but it is possible he skipped that part, or didn't notice it before.
- Fishlegs said the Changewing didn't have the picture in the book. However, in the first film, when Hiccup reads the Manual there is a picture of a Changewing.
Trivia
- The alphabet shows a very close resemblance to Khuzdul, the fictional Dwarvish language in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
- The Dragon Manual is possibly the franchise's version of How to Train Your Dragon by Professor Yobbish in the original Book series. This could be the case because after the first part of the young Vikings' training in the book, Gobber tells the boys that they can get more information at the Great Hall. Hiccup and Fishlegs are the only two to actually go and check it out, just like how in the first movie Hiccup is the only one to go check it out after Gobber tells the young Vikings about it.
- The dragon that 'chokes its victims' is most likely a reference to the Grapple Grounder.
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Dragon Manual is also available in other languages. Do visit these pages if you prefer reading content from the respective languages: Deutsch • Español • Русский • Polski • Italiano • Português • Français |
