How a run-in with a giant eel influenced Cressida Cowell's bestselling book series

32:35How to Train Your Dragon author Cressida Cowell

How to Train Your Dragon is one of the most successful children's franchises of all time, spanning books, animated movies and a new live-action remake that just hit the big screen.

With its focus on mythical fire-breathing creatures, this fantasy series might seem as far from reality as you can get. But author Cressida Cowell, the creator of the original book series, says a lot of the story was inspired by her real-life childhood experiences.

Growing up in the 1970s, Cowell spent every summer holiday roughing it with her family on a remote Scottish island without electricity. Her father, a businessman, was an avid outdoorsman who took every opportunity to live off-the-grid in nature.

"His heart was in the wilderness," Cowell tells Q guest host Gill Deacon in an interview. "Every year from when I was a baby, we would be dropped off on this uninhabited island off the west coast of Scotland and picked up again two weeks later."

When Cowell was nine, her dad built a house on the island so their family could vacation there all summer. She remembers him telling her stories about the Vikings who had once invaded the area.

This gigantic six-and-a-half foot conger eel was writhing around in the lobster pot.- Cressida Cowell

"This was Viking Scotland, basically, it was the first place the Vikings came to when they invaded Great Britain and it was the last place they left," she says. "Lots of the stories from the islands … were about dragons because Vikings thought that dragons were real."

One day, while out fishing with her dad, Cowell had a surprise encounter with a real-life monster.

"My dad put this lobster pot over the side and he jumped back on the boat and this gigantic six-and-a-half foot conger eel was writhing around in the lobster pot," she says with a laugh. "He had to tie it to the back of the boat because he couldn't take it on, you know, these things are huge! … You can see why Vikings believed that dragons were real."

The author says her relationship with her father, whom she describes as being "fearless," is very much reflected in her books. 

Cowell has just released a new spin-off novel, How To Train Your Dragon School: Doom of the Darkwing, which is out now.

The full interview with Cressida Cowell is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview with Cressida Cowell produced by Ben Edwards.