How to Train Your Dragon (novel series)

How to Train Your Dragon is a series of children's books written by British author Cressida Cowell. The books are set in a fictional Viking world, and focus on the experiences of protagonist Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, as he overcomes obstacles on his journey of "becoming a hero, the hard way".

How to Train Your Dragon (2003)

For the 2010 movie, see How to Train Your Dragon (film)

• There were dragons when I was a boy.
  • A Note from the Hero
• This is the story of becoming a Hero the Hard way.
  • A Note from the Hero
• "DEATH OR GLORY!" yelled Gobber.
  "DEATH OR GLORY! yelled eight boys back at him fanatically.
  Death, thought Hiccup and Fishlegs, sadly.
  • Ch. 1: First Catch Your Dragon
• “Well, don’t expect ME to pity you!" said Hiccup. "What kind of father thinks his stupid Laws are more important than his own son? And what kind of stupid Tribe is this anyway, that it can’t just have ordinary people in it?"
  • Ch. 10: Thor'sday Thursday
• Although this is the part of the story that the bards tend to focus on as the bit where Hiccup was particularly heroic, I do not agree. It is a lot easier to be brave when you know you have no alternative. Hiccup knew in his heart of hearts that the Monster intended to kill them all anyway. So he didn't have a lot to lose.
  • Ch. 12: The Green Death
• "I have come," said Hiccup, "to find out whether you come in PEACE or in WAR."
  "Oh, peace, I think," said the Dragon. "I am going to kill you though," he added.
  • Ch. 12: The Green Death

How to be a Pirate (2004)

• If you were a fanciful person, you might have said that it was almost as if that box was looking for Hiccup.
  But we are not fanciful people, and that would be ridiculous.
  • Ch. 3: A Chance in a Million

How to Speak Dragonese (2005)

• However small we are, we should always fight for what we believe to be right. And I don't mean fight with the power of our fists or the power of our swords. That has always been the problem with us Vikings. I mean the power of our brains and our thoughts and our dreams.
  • Epilogue by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, The Last of the Great Viking Heroes

How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse (2006)

• "Who is to say that your friend's life is worth more than a Dragon's?" said One Eye...
  "It's worth more to me," said Hiccup, "because I didn't know the the Doomsfang personally."
• Hiccup's heart was beating fast in anxiety and sadness, and he suddenly realized he could actually HEAR it beating.<br>Tick tock tick tock tick tock went his heart.<br>How very peculiar, thought Hiccup.
  • Ch. 17: The Quest is Over
• Sometimes it is only a true friend who knows what we mean when we try to speak.
  • Ch. 19: The Final Chapter

How to Twist a Dragon's Tale (2007)

• Human hearts are not made of stone.
  Thank Thor.
  They can break, and heal, and beat again.
  • Epilogue by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, The Last of the Great Viking Heroes

A Hero's Guide to Deadly Dragons (2007)

• Thank Thor you live in a time and a place where people have the right to live and think and write and read their books in peace, and there are no need for heroes anymore...
  And spare a thought for those who have not been so lucky.
  • Epilogue by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, The Last of the Great Viking Heroes

How to Break a Dragon's Heart (2009)

• "Once I loved truly and my heart paid the price.
  Now let me love truly, Thor, let me love TWICE."
  • song sung by Humongous Hotshot the Hero, Ch. 23: How UG the Uglithug Finally Lost his Daughter

How to Steal a Dragon's Sword (2011)

• Isn't fate artistic?
  • Ch. 12: The Lost Kingdom of the Wilderwest

• A hero cannot triumph all the time.
  Sometimes he will be defeated, but how he faces that defeat is a test of his character.
  • Ch. 24: The Boy Hunt

How to Seize a Dragon's Jewel (2012)

• Who says stories cannot bring things to life?
  • Ch. 25: I Don't Think I'm Dead

•  "Are dragons never to sail through the skies again, on jewel-colored, airy wings, or light up world once more with the glory of their fiery breath?
  "Are we to say good-bye forever to the magic, and the dreaming and the flying of our childhoods?
  "I say NO!" cried Hiccup.
• "Do not think that just because I have the soul of a soldier and cannot speak soft words that it was not hard for me or that because I left, I did not love." said Valhallarama.
• "There are some dragons that are monsters," admitted Valhallarama.
  "But then there are also some humans who are monsters." (And at this point she paused and looked significantly at Alvin the Treacherous and the witch.)
•  "You can choose the lying witch's son, Alvin, the man with the golden nose, the blood-soaked hook, and the empty heart."
  [...] "Or you can choose my own son, Hiccup, who is not a runt, but something special, and who offers you the hope of a new and better world."
  • Ch. 28: Facing the music... and Alvin and the witch

How to Betray a Dragon's Hero (2013)

• That was the moment Hiccup took on his destiny.
  He lifted his drooping head.
  'I will NEVER give up fighting you, witch, even though it is too late... Even though all is lost... Even though it is impossible... Never never never...'
  The witch had failed again.
  • Ch. 11: The Testing of a Hero

•  'I wish I could offer you a King who is greater than I am. I can't turn into someone else, I can only be me. But I have discovered that I too, am stronger than I thought I was. I think I can do this. I think I can be this King that the Dragonmarkers want me to be.'
  • Hiccup, Ch. 17: The Swordfight

• Great things are only made out of love and out of pain.
  • Prologue by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, Last of the Great Viking Heroes

How to Fight a Dragon's Fury (2015)

• "There are some Questions, some battles, some Hiccups that are worth losing a world for.
  "And perhaps when it all ends in disaster, you cannot do the wrong thing, if you do it out of love."
  • Valhallarama, Ch. 4: The Larger Problem

• "[...] And even though I am a Viking...
  "I confess, I am afraid
  • Barbara the Barbarian, Ch. 10: Who is the King?

• "Look!" said Barbara the Barbarian. "My black cat has chosen Hiccup! Do you think this could be a sign too?"
  And indeed, Barbara's black cat had jumped off Barbara's head, and was curling around Hiccup's legs, purring.
  • Ch. 11: Grimbeard's Letter

• Toothless was saying carelessly to Stormfly, "Oh, yes, T-t-toothless not surprised my Master turned out to be King because everybody says Toothless of royal blood...Not a Common or Garden at all, but a Toothless D-a-daydream, who are a bit like M-m-monstrous Nightmares only cuter..."
  "Hmm," said Stormfly thoughtfully, looking him over to see if he was turning purple, which is what Mood Dragons do when they lie.
  • Ch. 13: A Very Short Chapter that Begins Well... And Ends Badly

•  Stop expecting other people to save you.
  YOU are the Hero.
  Save yourself.
  (If you want another answer, try another woman.)
  Your loving mother,
  Valhallarama
  • Valhallarama's Letter, Ch. 15: Preparing for the Funeral... Sorry, Single Combat

• There is nothing more defenseless than a defenseless human.
  No teeth, no talons, no thunderbolts, no fire.
  • Ch. 19: And It Haunts the Present in More Ways than We Think...

• The mind is a strange universe.
  • Ch. 19: And It Haunts the Present in More Ways than We Think...