Ivar the Boneless: History, TV Portrayals, and Viking Legends

Ivar hinn Beinlausi, better known as Ivar the Boneless, is one of the most popular characters on the History Channel’s Vikings TV show. He is the brutal but crippled son of Ragnar Lodbrok who ruthlessly defies all expectations to become the ruler of Kattegat, but later burns all bridges with his family and finds himself in exile. But how closely does the Ivar portrayed on screen resemble the historical figure, and was he really a famous, crippled Viking warrior?

The Ivar the Boneless that we meet in the History Channel’s Vikings is the youngest son of Ragnar Lodbrok. Born and raised a cripple, this results in a brutal and ruthless personality. He is in constant conflict with his brothers as he seeks to prove himself through power. While Ivar was a son of Ragnar, the producers took significant liberties in their portrayal of this real historical figure.

Was Ivar the Boneless a Real Person?

Ivar the Boneless was a real person. He is mentioned in the Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok as one of the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok, a Danish king, who was also a real historical figure, though there is no doubt that his exploits have been significantly exaggerated in the sagas.

Was Ivar the Boneless a Son of Ragnar Lodbrok?

Ivar is recorded as one of the nine known sons of Ragnar Lodbrok. It is quite possible that Ragnar had more sons, and a few daughters, who aren’t preserved in the sources.

Ragnar first had a relationship with the legendary shieldmaiden Lagertha and has a son Fridleif and two daughters. When the pair divorced, the children seem to have stayed with their mother. Ragnar then had two sons with Thora, the daughter of a Jarl of Gotland, called Eirik and Agnar.

When Ragnar and Thora divorced, he met a beautiful but poor woman named Kraka. Despite her humble background, he fell in love with her and married her. But it was then revealed that her true identity was Aslaug, the daughter of the hero Sigurd and the Valkyrie Brynhild. This seems like a convenient discovery for the wife of a king, but regardless, the couple went on to have five sons.

The oldest of those sons was Ivar, reportedly born at Uppsala in 787, followed by Bjorn Ironside, Halfdan Hvitserk, Rognvald, and Sigurd Snake in the Eye. So, unlike in the TV series, Ivar is the oldest of the sons and a full-blood brother of Bjorn Ironside. Ragnar also had another son Ubbe with an unknown woman.

The Vikings often had nicknames that described something about them, such as Ragnar Lodbrok (hairy pants) and Harald Fairhair. So, one of the big questions is, why was Ivar called “the boneless”? In the TV show, he is represented as being born a cripple, but this is unlikely.

Babies born with obvious problems were usually exposed rather than raised. This was considered a mercy because it would have been hard for them to survive, and it also meant more resources were available for the stronger children who were more likely to grow up. While an exception could have been made for the son of Ragnar Lodbrok, that he would also go on to become a mighty warrior is highly unlikely.

According to the legend, Aslaug had a vision that if she and Ragnar did not wait three days to consummate their marriage, any child to be conceived during those three days would be born boneless. It seems the couple could not control themselves, and their oldest son Ivar was born boneless.

Much ink has been spilled over what is meant by boneless. Supporting the suggestion that he was crippled are accounts of him being carried on a shield by other warriors. But it is never said that this was done because he was a cripple and successful Viking leaders were often honored by being carried on the shields of their defeated foes.

There are several alternative suggestions for what boneless could mean. It has been suggested that he was impotent, as he is sometimes described as having no interest in women. The sources suggest that he never married and sired no known heirs. It has also been suggested that he had hyper-flexibility, making him appear to be a boneless contortionist.

It is also possible that he was not born crippled but developed some kind of disability that resulted in weakness in the lower limbs. However, he is described as large and strong, particularly in the upper body, and excellent with a bow and arrow.

While it is frustrating, we will probably never know why Ivar was called boneless by his contemporaries. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t seem to have held him back from living a thoroughly Viking lifestyle.

Ivar’s historical actions can be divided into two distinct periods, his time leading his band of brothers in Viking territory and his time in Britain with the Great Heathen Army. While some sources suggest that he died at home in Denmark, there is also good evidence to suggest that he chose to stay in Britain and make his name there.

A Band of Brothers

Ivar is generally considered the most cunning and intelligent of Ragnar’s sons. His father seems to have recognized this, entrusting him with the administration of Jutland at some point. Apparently, during this time, Ivar’s half-brother Ubbe approached Ivar with a plan to overthrow his father. Unwilling to betray either his father or brother, Ivar apparently went into exile. Rather than being angry, Ragnar reportedly respected the decision.

But according to the sagas, Ragnar expelled his sons with Aslaug from his realm. This was a Viking custom, sending off younger sons to protect the interests of older sons, in this case, Eirik and Agnar, and giving them an opportunity to make their own names. Ragnar also gave them ships and resources. As the oldest and wisest, Ivar was the leader of the band of brothers who set themselves up on Zealand from where they raided nearby Viking territories including Jutland, Gotland, Oland, and other minor islands.

Taking advantage of the pressure that these raids put on the Swedish King Eystein, Eirik and Agnar went to Eystein and demanded that he cede some of his territory. Unimpressed, Eystein killed Ragnar’s two elder sons. The band of younger brothers then decided to seek vengeance.

The story of the ensuing battle is strange. It suggests that Eystein brought a magical cow called Sibilja with him to wreak havoc on the battlefield. Ivar shot the cow in the eye with his bow, which sent the cow berserk. So, Ivar had himself thrown at the cow, perhaps thrown because he was a cripple but perhaps not, and then crushed the cow with his immense upper-body strength.

Reportedly, Ragnar left Ivar in control of his Danish territories when he went off to conquer England, which would make sense if Ivar was his oldest surviving son. Apparently, Ragnar had become extremely arrogant at this point and believed that he could conquer England with just two ships. Instead, he was captured and killed by King Aella of Northumbria, reportedly thrown into a snake pit.

According to the sagas, to avenge their father, Ivar and his brothers, including Ubbe, put together 400 ships and sailed to England in 865. This troop became known as the Great Heathen Army.

The sources suggest that despite having so many ships, the Vikings were still outnumbered when they arrived. Therefore, while many of his brothers rushed into battle at the head of individual bands and suffered humiliating defeats, the strategic Ivar refused to fight. Instead, Ivar approached King Aella as a potential ally if he would pay the accustomed fee for the death of his father.

The story of what happened next is fantastical but probably contains a grain of truth. Aella reportedly offered Ivar as much land as he could cover with the biggest hide he could find, which would clearly have been meant as an insult. But Ivar took the opportunity. He cut a hide into ribbons and spread it out so far that he carved out a significant kingdom for himself in England with York as his capital. In reality, what he probably did was make alliances and gather resources to carve out a foothold in England. He then invited his brothers to join him in seeking vengeance.

With Ivar as their leader, in 867, the Vikings defeated Aella’s army and captured and killed the king, reportedly using a torturous technique called the blood eagle. This involved carving an eagle on a man’s back and salting the wound, then extracting their ribs in a way that they pulled out the still-breathing lungs, letting the man die slowly and in pain.

For most of Ivar’s brothers, the death of Aella meant that their vengeance was complete. But no doubt seeing opportunity, Ivar stayed in England, and he reportedly ruled over his kingdom with a brutal fist. Christian sources suggest that Ivar had a particular hatred of Christians and demanded that Edmund, king of East Anglia, renounce his religion after a failed uprising. When Edmund refused, Ivar tortured and killed him, and left his body exposed, denying him a proper burial. He also reportedly sacked monasteries, slaughtered monks, and stole their wealth.

It is possible that he was also active in Ireland, as another Ivar is mentioned there. He reportedly set himself up as a king in Dublin from where he raided coastal settlements on both sides of the Irish Sea. This Ivar reportedly died of disease in 873, but it can’t be verified that this was Ivar the Boneless. If it is, he was an impressive 86 years old when he died.

Who Plays Ivar the Boneless in TV Shows and Movies?

The Ivar who appears in the History Channels Vikings is played by Danish actor Alex Høgh Anderson, opposite Travis Fimmel as Ragnar, Katheryn Winnick as Lagertha, and Alexander Ludwig as Bjorn Ironside. Since then, the young actor has also appeared in the Danish war film The Bombardment, the mini-series The Viking: Downfall of a Drug Lord, and the Danish crime thriller Those Who Kill.

His character is the youngest son of Ragnar who grows up resenting his disability and the contempt of his older brothers. This causes him to develop a brutal personality that pushes him to prove himself at all costs, even if it means hurting his beloved brothers.

While this is probably the most famous portrayal of Ivar on film, he also appeared as an agile warrior in the 1969 film Alfred the Great, about the Anglo-Saxon king who fought off the Viking invasion, and as a reclusive homosexual in Hammer of the Gods in 2013. Interestingly, in this film, Ivar was played by Ivan Kaye, who played Aella in Vikings.

Interestingly, despite the period setting, Ivar does not appear in Netflix’s The Last Kingdom (2015-2022), despite Ubbe appearing as a leader of the Great Heathen Army. This is perhaps because it was challenging to fill the role after the powerful representation of the character on Vikings.

We have already established that many of Ivar’s plot points in Vikings don’t align with the historical figure. Most important are Ivar’s position in Ragnar’s family, the idea that he accompanied his father to England to witness his death, and the presentation of him betraying his family to take control of Kattegat.

Another historical difficulty is Ivar traveling to the land of the Kyivan Rus’ after he is expelled from Kattegat. This was no doubt a move by producers to keep the popular character in the show. They did the same thing with Ragnar, who was supposed to die in season one but made it to season four.

The Kyivan Rus’ were a real people with Viking connections that settled the area from the Finno-Russian border down through modern Ukraine to the Baltic Sea with their capital at Novgorod. The people were a mix of Norsemen, mostly from Sweden, eastern Slavs, and Finnic people. The kingdom was apparently officially founded in 862 when the Varangian Viking Prince Rurik was invited to take control of Novgorod, and his successor Oleg the Wise, who ruled from 879 to 912, extended the kingdom south and east. The kingdom converted to Christianity at the end of the 10th century under Vladimir the Great, and the empire disintegrated into smaller kingdoms by the 12th century.

This means that the Vikings TV show pushes Ivar out of time, as he would have had to be around 100 years old to share his adventures with Oleg, but it was an interesting way for the show to retain the popular character and explore this lesser-known aspect of Viking history.