How to Be a Pirate is the sequel to How to Train Your Dragon and the second book in the book series. It was released in 2004 in the UK and on May 11, 2005 in the US.
Official Summary[]
“ | When Hiccup finds a coffin at sea, he opens it to discover a riddle that will lead to the treasure of Grimbeard the Ghastly, the world's greatest pirate and Hiccup's ancestor.Setting out on a treasure hunt, Hiccup and his friends must master the art of swordfighting! How else will they escape an island of homicidal dragons, defeat a boatload of Viking pirates, and survive a dirty double cross? | ” |
— Back Cover, US Edition |
Synopsis[]
Hiccup and Fishlegs find a coffin floating out at sea after a disastrous Swordfighting-at-Sea lesson. When the Hairy Hooligans decide to open the coffin, they find it contains a live person who calls himself Alvin the Poor but Honest Farmer. Alvin shares a riddle that tells where to find the treasure of Grimbeard the Ghastly, and convinces them to search for it.
The Hairy Hooligans go to the island mentioned in the riddle which is determined to be the dangerous Isle of the Skullions. Snotface Snotlout and his dragon Fireworm triumphantly sniff out a chest full of treasure, as well as Grimbeard's infamous sword, Stormblade. However, Grimbeard the Ghastly booby-trapped the chest with a smell that will wake up all of the resident Skullions - huge ear-less, eyeless dragons with an unusually keen sense of smell. Hiccup is nearly killed by a Skullion, but is saved by his father, Stoick the Vast. On the way back to Hooligan Village, the Hooligans fight over the treasure and who the successor to Stoick should be. As they fight, their ship is boarded by the Outcast Tribe and Alvin is revealed to be the Chief of the Outcasts. A battle ensues and the ship sinks. Everyone escapes except for Hiccup, Fishlegs, Alvin the Treacherous, and Toothless.
The ship sinks to the bottom of the sea, and they all escape into an underwater cavern filled with air. Toothless finds a door that opens into a cavern full of gold and jewels - Grimbeard's real treasure. Alvin tries to kill Hiccup to keep him from taking any treasure. Fortunately, in the middle of the battle, Alvin steps on a pile of treasure that rears up and grabs him. Hiccup realizes there is enormous Monstrous Strangulator , an octopus-like dragon creature, in the cave. Alvin is quickly eaten, but Hiccup tricks the Monstrous Strangulator into poisoning itself. They escape the cave, and Hiccup decides the world isn't ready for the treasure. Hiccup and Fishlegs soon surface with Toothless's help, and they all return safely to the village.
Characters[]
Human Characters[]
- Alvin the Treacherous
- Baggybum the Beerbelly
- Bearhug
- Clueless
- Curly Horns
- Dogsbreath the Duhbrain
- Fishlegs
- Gobber the Belch
- Grimbeard the Ghastly
- Heftythighs
- Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III
- Hugefarts
- Nobber Nobrains
- Old Wrinkly
- Sharpknife
- Snotface Snotlout
- Speedifist
- Stoick the Vast
- Tuffnut Junior
- Valhallarama
- Wartihog
Dragon Characters[]
Dragon Species[]
- Basic Brown
- Bloody Crocoraptor
- Burrowing Slitherfang
- Common or Garden Dragon
- Deadly Nadder
- Electricsquirm
- Gronckle
- Monstrous Nightmare
- Monstrous Strangulator
- Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus
- Skullion
- Toothless Daydream
- Unknown Dragons
Locations[]
- Caliban Caves
- Hooligan Harbor
- Hooligan Village
- Isle of Berk
- Isle of the Skullions
- Outcast Lands
- Peaceable Country
- Roman Empire
- The Long Beach
- Wild Dragon Cliff
Objects and Practices[]
- Black Star
- Dragon Gear
- Dragonese
- Endeavour
- Flashcut
- Hammerhead
- Lucky Thirteen
- Pirate Training Program
- Slavery
- Stormblade
- Stretchapoint
- Swiftpoint Scaremaker
- The Endless Journey
Trivia[]
- This is the only book whose title does not contain the word "dragon".
- How to Be a Pirate may have inspired the Dragons: Riders of Berk episode "Portrait of Hiccup as a Buff Man".
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How to Be a Pirate is also available in other languages. Do visit these pages if you prefer reading content from the respective languages: • Français |