49 pages • 1 hour read
Cressida CowellHow to Train Your Dragon
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2003A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 14-19 and EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 14 Summary: “The Fiendishly Clever Plan”
Hiccup decides on a plan to play on dragons’ natural asthmatic tendencies. Toothless is afraid, and Snotlout complains about putting his own dragon at risk. Hiccup orders the boys to make “feather bombs” that they can use as distractions. He then coaches Fireworm and Killer on what to say to the Purple Death and Green Death, respectively.
The Meatheads head toward the Purple Death in the Unland-able Cove while Hiccup leads the Hooligans to the Green Death on Long Beach. The smaller dragons line the green dragon’s mouth with the feather bombs, which wake him up with a sneeze when he inhales them. Fireworm, pretending to be the Purple Death’s offspring, delivers a message laced with insults and threats. She quickly flies away toward the Purple Death as the other Berk dragons slow the Green Death with feather bombs. Just as the Green Death catches up with Fireworm, the Purple Death collides with him. The Green Death releases Fireworm, and both Sea Dragons settle down in the ocean.
Chapter 15 Summary: “The Battle at Death’s Head Headland”
At Death’s Head Headland, the two Sea Dragons fight a fierce battle that changes the landscape of the island. Both dragons are severely wounded. Eventually, they grasp each other in chokeholds and grip tightly until both go silent. The boys suspect their plan has succeeded until Fireworm cries out the order to desert. The Green Death wakes up and turns his head to stare directly at them.
Chapter 16 Summary: “The Fiendishly Clever Plan Goes Wrong”
The Hooligan and Meathead Tribes ban together, and 400 warriors race toward the dragon. The Green Death is dying but vows to eat Hiccup before he does. The boys run and hide in a thicket of ferns, but the dragon uses his fire breath to scare them out. Although Hiccup holds out longer than the rest, he eventually runs. The dragon catches Hiccup and remarks that they are both supper. The Green Death drops Hiccup into his mouth.
Chapter 17 Summary: “In the Mouth of the Dragon”
Hiccup gets stuck on a spear embedded in the dragon’s throat from the Roman platoon he ate. While hanging there, he curiously observes two holes in the throat spewing fire in small explosions. Hiccup reasons this is where dragons’ fire breath comes from. Below him, he hears the devoured Sea Dragon still singing. The fumes from the stomach confuse Hiccup until he no longer cares that the dragon is digesting him. However, he has a moment of clarity just as the spear breaks: He must fight for his life.
Chapter 18 Summary: “The Extraordinary Bravery of Toothless”
Toothless, who refused to participate in the “Fiendishly Clever Plan,” is caught by Stoick, who demands to know where to find Hiccup. Led by the Toothless, they arrive just in time to see Hiccup fall into the monster’s mouth. Although he plans to sneak away, the urge to help Hiccup seizes Toothless. Although he tries to reason away this urge, he flies directly into the Green Death’s nostril and begins to tickle him with his wings.
The Green Death tries to pull Toothless out with a claw but only succeeds in scratching him. The giant Sea Dragon sneezes, expelling both Toothless and Hiccup. Toothless grabs hold of Hiccup and slows their fall, while the Green Death, dying from fatal wounds to his chest and throat, threatens to incinerate them all.
Instead of breathing fire, the Green Death explodes. While hanging from the spear, Hiccup removed his helmet and used the horns to plug the fire holes. The explosion catapults Hiccup to the beach. An eight-foot tooth launches directly at Hiccup, but Stoick leaps in the way. The giant tooth impales Stoick’s shield, saving Hiccup. Before he passes out, Hiccup hears the “Supper” still singing.
Chapter 19 Summary: “Hiccup the Useful”
Although nearly all the Vikings and their dragons survive the battle, the Green Death’s talon pierced Toothless in the heart.
When Hiccup wakes up, he immediately asks for Toothless. Stoick tells Hiccup that Toothless is the first dragon to receive a Viking’s “Hero’s Funeral.” Hiccup worries that Toothless is only in a sleep coma trying to heal himself and wants to stop the funeral before his dragon is buried alive.
Hiccup arrives too late, and the arrows set Toothless’s pyre on fire. However, the flames wake the dragon, who flies around awhile engulfed in flames before plunging into the sea. When he emerges, he returns to Hiccup’s shoulder. Stoick declares Hiccup the Useful as a Viking warrior and official member of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe.
The closing image is Stoick’s pointed letter to Professor Yobbish. Stoick’s writing is choppy, but he clearly chastises the professor’s yelling method and invites him to come to Berk to yell at a Sea Dragon.
Epilogue Summary
Hiccup ends the book by explaining how no one has seen a Sea Dragon since the battle. The Vikings are already starting to doubt their existence, refusing to take the word of a hero like Hiccup. However, he reminds the reader that there could still be Sea Dragons in sleep comas, who might wake up at any moment. As such, he wishes to leave this book behind as a reference should that day come.
The book ends as Hiccup has a vision of his father’s shield with the Sea Dragon’s massive tooth embedded in it. He can still hear the song of the “singing Supper.”
Chapters 14-19 and Epilogue Analysis
These quick-paced chapters primarily serve as the climax of the book and thematically resolve A Hero’s Coming-of-Age Journey. Hiccup’s plan unfolds successfully, and his character develops into a true hero. These chapters also embody key story beats relevant to the fantasy genre. Fantasy weds the protagonist’s personal conflicts with the more epic conflicts contained within the story, and the protagonist will herald a resolution with a single action. The conflict between the two Sea Dragons serves to underscore the main conflict between the Green Death and Hiccup. If the “Fiendishly Clever Plan” had worked perfectly, then Hiccup would not have had the opportunity to prove himself as a hero. Instead, Hiccup must personally challenge the Green Death, allowing him to complete the final steps of the hero’s journey. In alignment with the monomyth, Hiccup’s heroic transformation is not complete until he is reborn.
By defeating the dragon, Hiccup resolves his place in Viking society, his charisma deficiency as a leader, and Toothless’s disobedience. His ability to slay a giant monster despite his small stature underscores The Underdog’s Triumph: “Size Is All Relative” as a primary theme. Hiccup also proves to the Berk tribes that a change in leadership and culture is beneficial to them. His victory grants him the admiration and respect of his tribe, and his actions usher in social progress for the Vikings. Cowell has left Toothless out of much of the story since the Thor’sday Thursday Celebration. Toothless, another underdog, proves himself by charging the Green Death in Hiccup’s defense. Toothless shows his own ingenuity by besting the Green Death via tickling. He is able to solve a problem without the use of traditional dragon methods like fire or teeth, proving himself useful in an unconventional way just like Hiccup. Although Toothless does not fully understand his own character growth, Cowell introduces an arc later developed throughout the series.
Through the motif of reading and writing, the usefulness of literacy furthers the theme of Breaking Tradition: Ingenuity in Leadership. Cowell ends the metafictional novel by reminding the reader that this story is really Hiccup’s. After witnessing the inefficacy of Professor Yobbish’s How to Train Your Dragon, Hiccup writes his own version, thus proving his usefulness. Rather than passing on information via oral tradition or some other method, Hiccup chooses a book as his method of instruction. Stoick’s interception of the exploding tooth before it impales Hiccup signals a shift in perception. The chief sees this approaching danger and realizes that the Vikings’ violent way of life will destroy his son. Stoick saves Hiccup with a shield (a defensive weapon) and not a sword (an offensive weapon), signaling Stoick’s character growth and change in worldview. The Hooligans no longer embrace the chaotic violence of nature they previously lived by and now seek to shield themselves from a danger that would threaten them from within.
In Hiccup’s Epilogue, he sees the Sea Dragon’s eight-foot tooth stuck in his father’s shield. With this vision, he hears the song of the “singing Supper.” His description is ominous and provides a haunting shift in the tone. The image is a reminder of mortality and the futility of strength. Because the vision of the tooth is ever-present, Hiccup recognizes that he’ll have to defend his tribe from more powerful threats in the future.
