Name: The Isle of Berk from How to Train Your Dragon
Author: Cressida Cowell

Cowell was inspired by childhood holidays spent on a remote Scottish island, where she imagined a past in which Vikings and dragons might once have coexisted. This imaginative landscape became the Barbaric Archipelago, a fictional cluster of wind-battered isles somewhere in the northern seas.

The frontispiece of the first hardback edition shows the Isle of Berk, containing Hiccup’s home, Hooligan Village, and Meathead Islands over the Inner Ocean, land of the Hairy Hooligans’ rivals, the Meathead Tribe. The map is drawn in a deliberately chaotic, exaggerated style reflecting the vibrant, rebellious nature of both its inhabitants and the book itself – this includes the place names, which are written in a barbarian scrawl rather than neat calligraphy. Through this approach, Cowell gives an immediate impression that these boisterous lands are not for the timid, or the humourless!

Ex Carta

First published in 2003, Cressida Cowell’s How to Train Your Dragon follows Hiccup, an unlikely Viking hero who tames his dragon Toothless through empathy and wit. Cowell’s playful map of the Barbaric Archipelago reflects the book’s anarchic humour and vividly imagined world.

The short novel How to Train Your Dragon was originally published in the UK in 2003 by Hodder Children’s Books in paperback format, aimed at young readers in the 8 to 12 age range. Its author, Cressida Cowell (1966–), also provided its lively and eye-catching illustrations. Its readership grew steadily through word of mouth, school adoption, and library circulation – before exploding in popularity thanks to a high-profile film adaptation.

The 2009 first hardback, expanded edition reflects this success and it is also adorned with a sticker suggesting it should be read ‘before you see the film’; the acclaimed DreamWorks animated version was released in 2010 and was a further boost to the book’s enormous popularity. A new generation of fans and readers will no doubt ensue from the 2025 live-action film adaptation, also produced by DreamWorks.

How to Train Your Dragon is set in a fantasy Viking world in which a tribal rite of passage involves capturing and training one’s very own dragon. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, despite his grandiose name, is a scrawny loner and unlikely Viking warrior; instead of brawn he uses his brains to pass the trial. He relies on his qualities of empathy, cleverness, and communication skills to befriend a small and seemingly useless dragon called Toothless. It is also these qualities that lead to the unpromising duo overcoming their apparent limitations and the contempt of the tribe to become true heroes.

Cowell was inspired by childhood holidays spent on a remote Scottish island, where she imagined a past in which Vikings and dragons might once have coexisted. This imaginative landscape became the Barbaric Archipelago, a fictional cluster of wind-battered isles somewhere in the northern seas.

The frontispiece of the first hardback edition shows the Isle of Berk, containing Hiccup’s home, Hooligan Village, and Meathead Islands over the Inner Ocean, land of the Hairy Hooligans’ rivals, the Meathead Tribe. The map is drawn in a deliberately chaotic, exaggerated style reflecting the vibrant, rebellious nature of both its inhabitants and the book itself – this includes the place names, which are written in a barbarian scrawl rather than neat calligraphy. Through this approach, Cowell gives an immediate impression that these boisterous lands are not for the timid, or the humourless!