The Feather People are a group of people mentioned and seen briefly in the How to Train Your Dragon Book series. The Feather People occupy America.
History[]
Not much is told about the origins of the Feather People in the Book series. However, it is widely assumed that the Feather People are meant to represent Native Americans because they live in America and the chief wears feathers. In actual history, the Vikings were, in fact, the first Europeans to arrive in the Americas, specifically Northern North America, and they did encounter native peoples.
There is increasing evidence that Vikings may have arrived in the Arctic North America to hunt for seals and walruses, as well as trade with native peoples, such as the Dorsets or the Thule peoples. Vikings may have even established temporary hunting and treading camps in the northern most Canadian islands.
Famously, the Vikings colonized the Southern tip of Greenland led by Erik the Red from Iceland. But as the climate changed, the Viking colony eventually vanished. Erik the Red's children - Lief Ericsson, Thorvald, and Freydis, all visited North America further west. Lief encountered three 'lands' he named Helluland (land of the flat stones), Markland (land of forests), and Vinland (land of wine). These probably correspond with Baffin Island, Labrador, and Newfoundland, respectively.
Historic Vikings referred to Native Americans as "skraelings".
Culture[]
In How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse, Old Wrinkly tells Hiccup about the story of Bigjob and his voyage to America. In it the Feather people are describes as "Friendly natives" who gifted Bigjob their arrows. He later used all of them, save one, to fight against the Doomfang.
| “ | These specially sharp arrows had been given to Bigjob by the Feather People, who are very expert at making arrows. | ” |
| — Book 4 |
The remaining arrow is described as "gaudy" and "decorated with brilliant feathers taken from birds Hiccup would not have recognized. American birds that once flew about in undiscovered American skies."
In How to Ride a Dragon's Storm, the Feather People are seen briefly on the shores of America. Fishlegs thinks that they do not look friendly to invaders, while Hiccup realizes that he should try to fix problems in the Old World before entering the New.
Appearances[]
| Main Series | ||||||||||||
| "How to Train Your Dragon": | Absent | "How to Ride a Dragon's Storm": | Appears | |||||||||
| "How to Be a Pirate": | Absent | "How to Break a Dragon's Heart": | Absent | |||||||||
| "How to Speak Dragonese": | Absent | "How to Steal a Dragon's Sword": | Absent | |||||||||
| "How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse": | Mentioned | "How to Seize a Dragon's Jewel": | Absent | |||||||||
| "How to Twist a Dragon's Tale": | Absent | "How to Betray a Dragon's Hero": | Absent | |||||||||
| "A Hero's Guide to Deadly Dragons": | Absent | "How to Fight a Dragon's Fury": | Absent | |||||||||
Gallery[]
References[]
Norse colonization of the Americas on Wikipedia
Skræling on Wikipedia
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| Tribes and Groups of the Books and Franchise | ||||||||||||
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