A Divine Romance

Stoick and Valka

For the Dancing & the Dreaming

from How to Train You Dragon: 2

"I'll swim and sail on savage seas...

with ne'er a fear of drowning,

and gladly ride the waves of life... if you will marry me.

No scorching sun nor freezing cold will stop me on my journey, if you will promise me your heart...

And love...?"

"And love me for eternity...

My dearest one, my darling dear, your mighty words astound me. But I've no need for mighty deeds when I feel your arms around me."

"But I would bring you rings of gold, I'd even sing you poetry! And I would keep you from all harm If you would stay beside me."

"I have no use for rings of gold I care not for your poetry! I only want your hand to hold- "

"I only want you near me!"

"To love and kiss to sweetly hold

for the dancing and the dreaming,

through all life's sorrows and delights-

I'll keep your laugh inside me!

I'll swim and sail a savage seas

with ne'er a fear of drowning

and gladly ride the waves of life

if you will marry me!"

...

Boy! What a love song!

There truly is a taste of the divine stirring inside of it.

Ever since the day so long ago when I went to the theater and saw "How to Train Your Dragon: 2," this song has left an aching throb inside of me. Hearing the lyrics of Stoick's and Valka's duet for the first time and seeing their affectionate glances and gestures on the screen kindled a tickling flame of desire within my chest. I was delighted with the burning sensation I felt in my heart, but it was only until recently that my bonfire of admiration became a roaring conflagration of realization.

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Before I go on, let me do a kind of recap for you. If you've seen this venturesome cartoon, you can probably recall the general plot line (and fortunately, Google has already done a full summarization for me :D): "Five years have passed since Hiccup and Toothless united the dragons and Vikings of Berk. Now, they spend their time charting the island's unmapped territories. During one of their adventures, the pair discover a secret cave that houses hundreds of wild dragons- and a mysterious dragon rider who turns out to be Hiccup's long-lost mother, Valka. Hiccup and Toothless then find themselves at the center of a battle to protect Berk from a power-hungry warrior named Drago."

(It's a really awesome movie. I recommend it to anyone from ranges of all ages. :)

In the midst of the battles and discoveries of the plot, there is woven intricately throughout the story a daring and lovely romance between Hiccup's parents, who are finally reunited after having been apart from each other for almost 20 years (during which they had both assumed their spouse was dead or had forgotten them). The wonderful scene I'm describing to you today is when Stoick (Hiccup's father) and Valka (Hiccup's mother) are cooking a meal for their son and trying to patch up the remaining doubts of their reviving marriage. (I suggest you click on this link before you read anymore. ↑)

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After I intently listened again to the words in the video and focused on the entirety of the wholesome scene, I noticed a few new subtleties I'd like to share with you.

Here are a few things I thought were worth pointing out to you in this scene:

* * *

It opens with Stoick and Valka preparing supper together.

But something isn't quite right.

Valka is positioned far enough away from her husband so that she doesn't have to look him straight in the eye (at least not yet).

Then, you see that Stoick turns to gaze at Valka across the distance between them. You notice the deep longing in his sad eyes as he stares at his bride (who was lost, but is still not quite found at this point). You can see his heart is begging for him to say something- anything!- to close the void that stands in the midst of them. Smoothly and suddenly, your ears pick up on a melody. He is whistling.

But he isn't just whistling any ol' hum-dum tune.

He is whistling their song.

You see him approach her hesitantly and then continue to move towards her, almost shyly.

"Remember our song, Val?" he tenderly whispers, though his voice is hoarse and low.

But Valka only hunches her shoulders slightly away from him.

Her face is a hard expression to read- one mixed with worry and uncertainty.

Despite this, her husband proceeds to sing the opening lines of the beautiful ballad I pasted above, and though his cracked tone is worn and rough, you can tell he sings not with his voice but with everything he is and everything he has.

With each following line, he keeps looking at her, tenderly and yet expectantly.

Almost as if the millions of vibrating atoms inside of him are just holding their breath and waiting for her to make any small sign of affection back at him.

He pauses only for a second.

Then raising his giant hand, he strokes her slender cheek like it were made of pure gold as he sings, "No scorching sun, nor freezing cold, will stop me on my journey..."

(And yes. I know full well that Gobber makes his interruption here, but we shan't pay any attention to him. ;)

As soft as a breeze, Stoick reaches down and slips her tiny hand into his own, and just barely squeezes it.

He places their entwined hands over his heart.

"And love...?" he sings but stops the line short, almost as if he's asking for her love instead of simply adding it to his list of guarantees.

He sighs with sorrow when he sees the absence of change in his wife's face, and lowers their hands gently.

His huge head droops.

And then! (My favorite part!)

With her eyes still cast downward , Valka continues to sing the line Stoick stopped short.

And oh! What surprised ecstasy gleams in Stoick's hopeful eyes!

As they make their way to the center of the cave, Valka begins to lead him in a dance as she sings the lines, "My dearest one, my darling dear... your mighty words astound me. But I've no need for mighty deeds when I feel your arms around me!"

Stoick laughs heartily and belts out the next few lines, "But I would bring you rings of gold, I'd even sing you poetry! And I would keep you from all harm if you would stay beside me."

With much laughing and energetic affection, she croons, "I have no use for rings of gold- I care not for your poetry! I only want your hand to hold!"

"I only want you near me!" her husband loyally chants back.

They then join in their song together, as husband and wife, and their merriment overflows to the rest of the audience in their company: Hiccup, Gobber, Toothless (and the other dragon... I forget his name. ;).

At the end, Stoick lifts Valka off of her feet and raises her above his head.

They gaze at each other with devotion and bliss.

And he embraces her tightly.

Valka, who at the beginning of this scene was standoffish and uncertain, is a changed women by the end of it, beaming with joy and confidence. And Stoick, who was at first shy and unsure of himself, is instantly full of laughter and smiles as he takes his wife into his strong arms.

How did this happen?

Well. I think the best way to put it is to say that the love between them didn't fade, even though they both assumed the love of their life had been lost to them forever.

Now THAT's a love song I'd play at my wedding.

Step aside "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran.

Say hello to "For the Dancing and the Dreaming."

Dear Reader,

My entire point of describing this scene to you is this:

To show how extremely similar the love of Stoick and Valka is to the love between God and mankind.

Think about it!

Let's replace Stoick with God the Father and Valka with all of mankind.

God the Father, whenever we stray from His affectionate arms, is beyond desperate to return us to His embrace. If we were to really look, we would see the deep longing in His eyes.

And just like Valka- even when we turn our backs to Him and position ourselves far enough away so that we don't have to look Him straight in the eye, He is always right there, turning towards us and approaching us, almost shyly.

"Remember our story, child?" He whispers, His fatherly voice softly breaking.

How often we hunch our shoulders and give God the same hard expression Valka gave Stoic.

But with every reminder He gives us about His constant goodness, God speaks gently and looks at our beloved faces lovingly and yet expectantly.

Almost as if the countless millions of vibrating atoms inside of Him are just holding their breath and waiting for us to make any small sign of affection back at Him.

Then, He reaches out and takes our hand.

How often do we return the gesture when He squeezes it?

Finally, He says one last thing, one last line- so personal to each of us and so, so moving.

But He sighs with sorrow when He sees the absence of change in His dear child's face, and lowers their hand gently.

His divine head droops...

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But what happens next?

It's your choice.

Next time you come face to face with God by the scene of your own sadness, your own uncertainty, your own depravity and lowliness, will you let that final line hang there in the silence between you both?

When He promises to bring you "rings of gold" and "sing you poetry" do you reply that you don't need such things, only His arm around you?

Will you continue the next lyric in your song with Him when He asks if you still love Him?

Will you dance with Him and sing with Him, and let Him lift you high above His head?

Will you let Him embrace you?

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In a similar way... Just as Stoick and Valka thought they were eternally separated from each other by the chasm of death, we separate ourselves from God by own daily decisions to destroy the connection of His eternal life which He freely offers us.

Stoick and Valka's love didn't fade at all (that's been shown here today).

But does our love for God fade because of the despair we feel when we sin, knowing we have separated ourselves from Him?

Or...!

Does our love stand firm on the brink of the chasm, thrusting itself outwards despite its own shortcomings?

Do we love God even after we have abandoned Him?

Because I assure you.

God loves you no matter what.

And He always will.

He's just waiting for you to finish the next line with Him as He sings,

"No scorching sun nor freezing cold will stop Me on my journey, if you will promise Me your heart...

And love...?"

~ K.k.W.

June 16, 2023; 12:38 a.m.