Shimmer-scale Dragons are a very beautiful breed with small—but highly reflective—scales that shimmer and shine as the dragon moves through water. They don’t have fins or webbed feet, but their long, eel-like bodies allow them to swim quite fast. They were once rumored to carry large pearls in their claws—causing many to seek them out in search of this fabulous treasure. In reality, the “pearl” is of greater value to the dragon, for the fabled treasure is actually an egg carried by a migrating female.

Dragons are highly-intelligent reptilian creatures that—from a human perspective, at least—appear to live forever. Many different varieties of dragon exist, each with their own unique qualities, habitats, and behavior. Adolescence in dragons is usually marked by the growth of a hatchling’s wings, although not all breeds of dragons grow wings and some breeds have other traits that indicate the beginning of maturation. In Galsreim, dragons and humans coexist peacefully.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Hakarl aside from his remarkably mild nature is his taste for shark, prepared in a manner that everyone on the mate's side of his family finds disgusting. His main diet is fresh fish, but he eats a lot of rotten shark when he can get his hands on it. Because the fluids in that type of shark are toxic, he and the local humans bury the carcasses in gravel and sand to let them decay, then hang them to dry for a few months. Since Hakarl is partially responsible for this delicacy's creation, the humans have asked what it should be called, but Hakarl doesn't really know. He suggested it should just be called "shark". Many times he has swum with sealed bags of cubed shark across the ocean for his warmer-climate brethren to try, but most of his family and friends don't acquire a taste for it. People usually can't spell Hakarl's name, and many close friends call him "Howie".