Ivar the Boneless facts for kids
Ivar the Boneless (Old Norse: Ívarr hinn Beinlausi IPA: [ˈiːˌwɑrː ˈhinː ˈbɛinˌlɔuse]; died c. 873), also known as Ivar Ragnarsson, was a Viking leader who invaded England and Ireland. According to the Tale of Ragnar Lodbrok, he was the son of Ragnar Loðbrok and his wife Aslaug, as his brothers Björn Ironside, Hvitserk, Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye and Ubba. However, this is not sure to be historically accurate. Ivar is probably the same person as Ímar, a Viking king of Dublin between 870 and 873.
The origin of the nickname is not certain. "Ívarr beinlausi" could be translated to "Ivar legless", but "beinlausi" could also be translated as "boneless", since "bone" and "leg" translates to the same word, "bein", in Old Norse. Several of the sagas describe him as lacking legs/bones or having a skeletal condition such as osteogenesis imperfectaю
Death
The Anglo-Saxon chronicler Æthelweard records his death as 870. The Annals of Ulster describe the death of Ímar in 873. The death of Ímar is also recorded in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland under the year 873.
The identification of the king of Laithlind as Gothfraid (i.e., Ímar's father) was added by a copyist in the 17th century. In the original 11th-century manuscript, the subject of the entry was simply called righ Lochlann ("the king of Lochlainn"), which more than likely referred to Ímar, whose death is not otherwise noted in the Fragmentary Annals. The cause of death—a sudden and horrible disease—is not mentioned in any other source, but it raises the possibility that the true origin of Ivar's Old Norse nickname lay in the crippling effects of an unidentified disease that struck him down at the end of his life.
In 1686, a farm labourer named Thomas Walker discovered a Scandinavian burial mound at Repton in Derbyshire close to a battle site where the Great Heathen Army overthrew the Mercian king Burgred. The number of partial skeletons surrounding the body—over 250—signified that the man buried there was of very high status. It has been suggested that such a burial mound is possibly the last resting place of Ivar.
According to the saga, Ivar ordered that he be buried in a place that was exposed to attack, and prophesied that, if that was done, foes coming to the land would be met with ill-success. This prophecy held true, says the saga, until "when Vilhjalm bastard (William I of England) came ashore[,] he went [to the burial site] and broke Ivar's mound and saw that [Ivar's] body had not decayed. Then Vilhjalm had a large pyre made upon which Ivar's body was] burned... Thereupon, [Vilhjalm proceeded with the landing invasion and achieved] the victory."
Fictional portrayals
- Ivar the Boneless is a minor character in the 1969 film Alfred the Great, portrayed as an acrobatic and agile warrior.
- In the 2013 film Hammer of the Gods, Ivar the Boneless is portrayed as a reclusive, homosexual Viking. The character was played by Ivan Kaye, who later portrayed King Ælla of Northumbria in the History television series Vikings.
- In Vikings, Ivar is portrayed as the son of Ragnar and Aslaug and a younger half-brother to Björn Ironside. He first appeared in season 2 as a baby, and later was played by James Quinn Markey and Alex Høgh Andersen.
- Ivar's invasion of East Anglia and killing of Edmund the Martyr are depicted in the video for The Darkness's song Barbarian.
- Ivar is a character in the 1993 novel The Hammer and the Cross.
- Ivar appears as a minor character in Bernard Cornwell’s 2004 novel The Last Kingdom, in which his epithet “the Boneless” is explained by him being very thin. Ivar dies off-screen in the novel, and his later descendants continually appear throughout the remainder of the series.
- Ivar is a recurring character in Ubisoft's video game Assassin's Creed: Valhalla which takes place in for the most part in England between 873 CE and 878 CE. He plays a significant part in the main storyline of the game.
- In the 2020 game Crusader Kings 3 by Paradox Interactive, Ivar is a playable character as leader of the Jarldom of the Suðreyjar in northwestern Scotland. His character in game is missing a leg possibly referring to his epithet “the Boneless”.
