How to Construct a Saddle
Vikings tend to do things spontaneously and carelessly. They do not enjoy putting too much thought into their actions, as it distracts them from the all-important task of doing everything in a manner that is positively poisoned with testosterone. I am obliged to write this chapter because of the aforementioned statement. You will probably attempt flight within twenty-four hours after meeting your dragon, and if you are of the male sex, I expect five hours or less. You will not be prepared in the slightest. Before I even begin talking about how not to be thrown into the ocean, I will have to make sure you don't rub your thighs raw within thirty minutes.
Let me make this clear- dragon scales are tough. They act as armor for dragons, and they are most definitely not your silk comfort blanket. Flight involves you shifting around on your dragon constantly, and your thighs will come in constant contact with dragon scales. You are essentially rubbing the flesh of your thighs against rough armor that acts as chainmail. If you are not wearing a saddle, it will hurt. If you do it too much, your thighs will begin to bleed, and it will be a bloody, godawful mess.
A saddle for your dragon should be made of leather, which you can buy for not too much money. If you are a productive person, and you have better things to do than make a saddle, you can always come to me to make it for you- at a small fee, of course. If you must insist on not supporting a man who must put food on the table for his wife and kids, then fine, go ahead, build one yourself. If your dragon is still in its adolescence, you will want to make the saddle with straps, as your dragon will grow quickly. You can use the straps to adjust the size of your saddle as your dragon grows.
The piece of leather looping around the dragon should be very thick and pulled tight, in order to ensure that it does not fall off. I myself have experienced firsthand what happens when your saddle is loose. When you are flying in the air, a fall off of your mount is considerably less pleasant than when you are riding a horse, for example.
The rest of a saddle's construction is mostly freeform. One disadvantage of just having somebody make a saddle for you, and only providing the maker with the measurements of your dragon- though certainly not reason enough to support good old-fashioned Berk capitalism- is that you will not be able to customize. Some people prefer to fly almost as if they are lying down on their dragon- their saddles are customized to best accommodate such a flying style. Some people are clever, and modify their saddle such that they can dismount by grabbing onto a rope or some similar contraption, and swing off their dragon. Not only does this tell everybody who witnesses such an act of badassery that you are good enough with craftsmanship to modify your saddle in this way, it is also, well, an act of badassery. I mean, you swing like Tarzan off the fire breathing dragon while said dragon is still in the air. There should be a law requiring you to pose after doing that. Though, of course, I only know one Viking in Berk that had so much Viking blood in her that she strapped her axe to the saddle. Not only is it a credit to the bond between her and her dragon that her Nadder would allow her to even bring a sharp object close to it, let alone strap it to its back, it is also very scary to watch a Viking on a fire breathing flying reptile waving an axe around. There haven't been that many rival Viking invasions since a couple years ago. Word got around, I guess.
After you have finished constructing and customizing your saddle, experiment with it. If it doesn't fit, then modify it. If you make your own saddle, expect there to be several drafts that will prove to be too loose, or too tight, or just not right. I had dozens of these drafts lying around my workshop.
Finally, when you are finished, and you finally have your own finalized saddle, you may feel proud. This pride is completely unjustified, as you have done nothing with your saddle. No, you may only feel proud once you take to the skies. Until then, it's just a piece of leather. I will teach you how to put this piece of leather to good use later on.
Review, please. Obviously, the next chapter is about flying.