(Aka my head-canons/world-building of life on Berk in HTTYD, inspired by the ‘Growing Up…’ series on YouTube.)
Houses
Family homes are passed down from fathers to sons, whilst married women will leave their family homes and move into their husbands home. Thus, homes on Berk contain the sons who inherited it, plus their wives and children.
Each house has two stories, with a ground floor consisting of a ‘kitchen’ where food is prepared and eaten, as well as the parents’ rooms. Above is a loft area where the children sleep and can also be used for food storage for the winter.
In a household with mixed genders of children, an old sailcloth is hung halfway across the loft space, with girls sleeping on one side and boys on the other.
Jobs
Dragons or not, life in a village is hard work and Berk is no exception. Most Hooligans are farmers or fishermen. There is a blacksmith, carpenters, a butcher, a miller, a potter, shipbuilders, a brewer and at least one law-speaker.
Even though Berk is egalitarian when it comes to women fighting, as they needed every able bodied warrior they could get to fight dragons, most chores are gender segregated. The men work fields, herd livestock, and go fishing. The women weave cloth, mend and wash clothes, bake bread, cook food and generally run the household. They sometimes learn the healing arts as well.
All Hooligans get taught how to fight, and the Berk Guard is a militia led by the Berk General. It’s their job to be on lookout for attacks in times of war and be the first line of defence when Berk is attacked, whether by dragons or other Vikings. When not on Guard duty, they go about their normal chores and lives.
Children
Mothers are helped to care for their babies by their grandmothers, siblings and elder children. With a baby, everyone is expected to pitch in, whether by caring for the infant directly or doing the mother’s chores for her. A baby is named twelve days after birth, if they survive that long. Some families give names with a common part, like As for the Hoffersons, Lout for the Jorgensons, Nut for the Thorstons and Legs for the Ingermans. Other families have ‘themed’ names.
Very young children (3 to 5 years old) aren’t expected to do chores and are free to play. This being Berk, miniature toy weapons are popular. Hooligan children become accustomed to their stubborn, violent lifestyles from a young age by being told rather gruesome nursery rhymes and bedtime stories.
Young children (6 to 8 years old) are taught by their families to read, and sometimes write, runes. This often takes place during the long winter months. Being able to read is considered more important than being able to write, since only some individuals (like the chief and lawmakers) need to write stuff down.
9 to 12 year olds are mature enough to do chores, even if it’s only a matter of helping with bigger jobs like cleaning the house, cooking dinner etc. As well as being taught to read, they are taught other skills to help them do their chores. Apart from these simple chores, they have free time to play with each other.
Teenagers
Teenagers (literally anyone at an age that ends with ‘teen’, so 13 to 19) are apprenticed to a trade, either that of their parents or a friend/family member. They don’t necessarily have to begin said apprenticeship at the age of 13; it can be started later, or even earlier. In general, the sooner the better, though.
These apprenticeships usually become their adult jobs, so finding one that fits is important. It does less good for the village as a whole if a teenager is bad at their assigned role. For this reason the apprenticeship can change if a more suitable job is found. Or, morbidly, if the previous apprentice has been killed.
If the Vikings in HTTYD had been depicted as having their own unique, Nordic inspired culture, instead of merely having a pop-culture Viking aesthetic, this is what I imagine they would value, and also how these values/virtues could be twisted into darker vices.
As Hiccup says, these Vikings have stubbornness issues. From this we can infer that they’d value determination, resolve, fortitude etc. They might say “we take what we want”, which could mean anything from fighting for what is theirs (their home, family, honour etc) to being competitive and stubborn, to aggressive raiding and pillaging.
They are obviously a warrior culture, with a strong emphasis on valuing physical strength and prowess. For example, in ‘Thawfest’ the Games can be seen as a way to test and show off strength, endurance, balance, co-ordination and so on. To them, war and fighting is the best way; the only way; to protect what is theirs. The focus on physical strength can be corrupted into toxic masculinity.
Then there’s the values embodied by their gods. Judging by the sculptures and statues on Berk, the Hooligans mainly worship Thor and Tyr. Thor is the Ideal Warrior, embodying the values of loyalty, honour, courage and duty. These are clearly the values that Stoick and Astrid try to live up to. On the other hand, loyalty and duty can become blind obedience, whilst honour and courage can become recklessness and a toxic ‘death before dishonour’ attitude.
Tyr is a god of law and justice. If the Hooligans worship Tyr as one of their patron gods, as it were, this suggests they hold justice in high regard. This could be a reason they accept dragons once the war is over. For centuries they assumed that ‘justice’ would only come after killing as many dragons as possible, only to realise that the Red Death was the true enemy, and justice was served with her death.
As for the other tribes, I think the Outcasts patron god would be Odin, who actually is the patron god of outlaws. He would also be worshipped by the Berserkers, along with Thor. “Those favoured by Odin are distinguished by their intelligence, creativity, and competence in the proverbial ‘war of all against all’. ” (Norse Mythology for Smart People). On the other hand, Odin is also a cunning schemer with little respect for rules, laws or fairness.
Overall I think a HTTYD Viking who lived up to these values would strive to be some combination of determined, strong, loyal, just, honourable, courageous, dutiful, intelligent, creative and competent.
However, they might also stray too close to the vices and be stubborn, competitive, toxic, reckless and/or a schemer.
I’ve been getting into the headcanon that Night Furies can come in more colours than just black. Partly because Toothless’ design was based on a black panther, so I like the idea that he’s melanistic, and partly because… well, one of the arguments for not having him fall for another Night Fury is that ‘people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference’. Well, they could have, if the other NF wasn’t all black.
Which isn’t to say Toothless should be the only black “OMG so unique and special” NF, because that’s just as stupid. Even if the black coloration is due to melanism, in NFs it makes sense to be a dominant trait. But more colourful dragons is always fun. So here’s some blue colour shades, along with the sRGB codes in case you get inspired and want to plug these colours into your own designs.
If you dim the brightness of your device way down it’ll give an idea of how these colours look in low light. Personally my headcanon is that the various shades are a trade off between being camouflaged and attracting mates. Perhaps the darker coloured individuals are better at hiding/hunting at night, but a brighter colour is also attractive because they show the NF is strong and has survived in spite of it.
Last but not least we have the black and grey Night Furies. Which colour do you think Toothless’ hypothetical NF love interest should have been? Blue and purple are my favourite colours so that’s what I’m leaning towards lol. Purple and black go well together imo.
According to Dean DeBlois, HTTYD is set in ‘our world’, but with dragons. However, also according to Dean, there is an entire archipelago that doesn’t exist in our world, and a ‘Hidden World’ of crystal caverns that also don’t exist in our world… so I decided to do a bit of actual world-building and created this continent.
Nordaustheimar (literally ‘north east realms’) would be a continent to the east of the Barbaric Archipelago. It is comprised of three sub continents all mashed together, with two mountain ranges, conifer forests, open grasslands, rivers, lakes, hills and valleys etc. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to depict it all without the map looking like a crowded mess, so just take my word for it XD. Also, for the sake of convenience there are only five countries on the map, when realistically there would be more. But you’re not here for realism!
Noregi is the equivalent of Norway. The language is Norse (had to work it in somehow) and the people are called Noregians (NOR-RE-GIANS, but you can pronounce it NORGE-IANS if you want). The capital city is Atsetagard, but the major trading port is Gullaborg. The majority of the population inland lives in scattered farms and villages across the country, whereas towns tend to spring up near the coast and along the Fimbulodda. Dragons tend to avoid human settlements, mostly due to being killed by farmers trying to protect their herds of sheep. Hunters still kill them and harvest the remains for resources to trade, and many Noregians fear dragons as vicious, unpredictable beasts, despite rarely seeing them in person.
Sviannaland is the equivalent of Sweden. The language is Sviannish and the people are called Svians.
The capital city is Lofudstathir. Culturally and economically, Sviannaland isn’t much different to Noregi. Along the border there are towns and villages of mixed heritage between the two countries, and their attitudes towards dragons are pretty much the same as Noregians, for the same reasons. Due to being sandwiched between two other countries, and a history of back and forth invasions, Sviannaland maintains defensive fortifications along the borders and has a mandatory conscription period.
Danmork is the equivalent of Denmark. The language is Danish and the people are called… Morks. Just kidding, they’re Danes. The capital city is Kunungard. Danmork is the second most culturally diverse country in Nordaustheimar, with a mixture of inhabitants and influences from Noregi, Sviannaland, Sahsisk and other countries in the southern continents. North of the Danskrelfr, the culture and ethnicity is more Nordic, whereas south of the Danskrelfr, it is more German. Indeed, Danmork has stronger ties and alliances to the country of Sahsisk, across the Drekifjall mountain range, than it does to Sviannaland.
Sahsisk is the equivalent of Saxony. The language is Sasiskan and the people are called Sahskans, or Saskans. The capital city and major trading port is Kuningburg. The country was colonised by an empire to the south looking to expand their reach, displacing large populations of the native Sami. Sahsisk is the most culturally diverse country in Nordaustheimar, and also the most mercantile. They form yet another node on the expansive network of trade routes across the continents of Nordaustheimar and Sudheimar.
Sapmi is the equivalent of Finland, and home to the native Sami. Various nomadic tribes once lived across the western half of the continent, but were pushed back to the northeastern corner of the continent. Sapmi is technically their land, but Saskans have built villages and even towns in that country and there’s nothing the Sami can do about it. Whilst they used to simply drive off dragons trying to hunt their herds, many Sami have turned to trapping dragons instead. This gives them more resources to trade with their ‘neighbours’.
