"How to Train Your Dragon", a cartoon tale of breaking tradition and establishing friendships, came out in theaters in late March of this year. This screenplay, based on the book by Cressida Cowell, leads the audience to the old Viking village of Berk...an old village with several 'new buildings' and a rather large pest problem. It is Viking tradition to slay dragons--the rather large pests, in this case; however, one young Viking, Hiccup, isn't quite up to par on the whole 'slaying business'. As the movie continues, Hiccup (along with various other young Vikings of the village) learn that dragons are far more than creatures to hunt, and that such creatures are fighting for their own survival in a way that the Viking villagers would never have suspected...

Although this piece produced by DreamWorks is fictional, the Vikings were certainly a real group of individuals. The term 'Viking' typically refers to the nordic-speaking people of south Scandinavia, who lived from around 793 to 1066 A.D. These peoples (from several closely located countries) are most know for sailing the oceans and seas, and raiding along their journeys. However, the Vikings were also traders and some did settle in the ports in which they had sailed. Various documentaries have been made pertaining to the Vikings, including one found on Youtube, titled "Barbarians--The Vikings". (The five parts to this documentary can be found here: 1/5, 2/5, 3/5, 4/5, 5/5.)

Also true to this movie, dragons were a part of Viking culture, although less in a concrete sense. In Viking tradition, the images of dragons were carved into the front of ships to scare sea monsters away. Also, a tale of Beowulf, a mighty Viking king, involves him slaying a dragon. Regardless of the realization that dragons (as depicted in the media) are not real, "How to Train Your Dragon" does pull more fact about Viking culture into the film than is often times expected of the silverscreen.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie "How to Train Your Dragon". The animation is great, and the story line (if not a bit predictable) is cute and both kid and adult friendly. I can image this film producing a great deal of revenue, especially since some theaters are going with the new wave of silverscreen viewing and showing this film in 3D. I would encourage people to go and see it--it is a PG so the blood and guts are kept to a minimum. However, it certainly would not be a bad way to spend some time away from school work.