Ivar Ragnarsson

Ivar (r) Ragnarsson († 873 in Dublin ), called Ivar the Boneless ( Old Norse : Ívarr inn beinlausi ), was a leader of the Vikings who was involved in the conquest of Danelag and was also active in Ireland . He is a heroic figure in saga literature .

Life

Ivar Ragnarsson was allegedly a son of the legendary Viking leader Ragnar Lodbrok (whose historicity is controversial, see also Reginheri ), his mother is said to have been Aslaug (who is also mentioned as Kraka). Both Ragnar and his son Ivar appear in the saga literature as heroes, but this genre of sources was created with a clear time lag to the reported events. In the early medieval sources ( Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Irish annals such as the Annals of Ulster ), however, the acts of war are described in a very timely manner.

Although it remains unclear whether Ivar's father was actually a Viking leader named Ragnar, Ivar is first mentioned in Irish annals in connection with a victory in 857 over other Scandinavian invaders, where he is called Imhar . In the following years he was in alliance with other Viking leaders (such as Olaf the White ) in Ireland.

Together with his brothers Halfdan and Ubba , Ivar was the leader of the " great pagan army " of the Danes in 865 . Ivar is mentioned by name only once in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , but his prominent role in the Viking invasion is undisputed. In other sources it is also called Hingwar or Igwar. The Vikings conquered the important city of York in Northumbria in 866 and fought off an attempt at recapture in early 867. From York they attacked Mercia in 867 and East Anglia (East Anglia) in 869 ; in the course of the following campaigns in 869 Edmund of East Anglia was captured and executed.

The Vikings tried to subjugate all of England in the 870s, but failed because of Alfred von Wessex's defensive efforts . However, Ivar does not seem to have participated in these activities. Rather, descriptions in the Irish annals indicate that he became active again in Ireland together with the above-mentioned Olaf. The Ulster annals tell of the death of Ivar, "King of the Northmen in all Ireland and Britain" (which apparently indicates his position of power) in 873.

If the often accepted identification in the Irish and British sources is correct, then this Ivar was also the founder of the Scandinavian ruling dynasty of Dublin (Uí Imair).

Legend

In the Ragnars saga loðbrókar , the reason for the “bonelessness” is given as a curse that fell on his father because he refused to keep three days of abstinence after the wedding with Aslaug. Aslaug was said to have gifts of sorcery and clairvoyance, and she had warned Ragnar against traffic during this period. It is there that it is reported that Ivar ordered that his body be buried on the English coast. As long as his bones protected this coast, no enemy would be able to conquer the land by sea. The legend also reports that Ivar had the Northumbrian king Ælle carve a blood haired in retaliation for killing his father .

The nickname

The background for the nickname the boneless is controversial among historians . The following theories exist:

• In 1949 the Dane Knud Stakemann Seedorff published a dissertation on osteogenesis imperfecta (colloquially known as glass bone disease), in which he names Ivar as the only historical personality who suffered from this disease. Seedorff points out that it is reported about Ivar that his legs were so weak that he had to be carried on a shield. In a 2003 Channel 4 documentary , Nabil Shaban took up this thesis again.
• Rory McTurk points out in connection with the nickname that Ivar's nickname is incorrectly associated. “Boneless” is a term for the wind in some Norwegian stories, so Ivar's ability as a navigator can be meant.

reception

Bernard Cornwell has processed the story of the Ragnar sons Halfdan, Ubba and Ivar and the Danish attempt to subjugate England in his book series "The Saxon Stories" (German: The Uhtred series). Harry Harrison also uses the story of the Ragnarsson brothers in his trilogy "Hammer and Cross" (English original title: "The Hammer and the Cross"). Nancy Farmers children's novel Dragon Sea (English: The Sea of Trolls ) describes a King Ivar, called only behind his back as "Ivar the Boneless".

In the 1958 film The Vikings , Kirk Douglas played the role of Einar, who was modeled on Ivar, in the 1989 comedy Erik, the Viking , John Gordon Sinclair played the role of Ivar the Boneless . Ivar, played by Alex Høgh Andersen , also appears in the TV series Vikings and plays an important role from season 4.

literature

• Marios Costambeys: Ívarr [Ívarr inn Beinlausi]. In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 29: Hutchins - Jennens. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 2004, ISBN 0-19-861379-2 , pp. 443-445.
• Clare Downham: Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland. The Dynasty of Ívarr to AD 1014. Dunedin Academic Press, Edinburgh 2007, ISBN 978-1-903765-89-0 .
• Donnchadh Ó Corráin: High-Kings, Vikings and other Kings. In: Irish Historical Studies 22, 1979, pp. 283-323.

Remarks

1. ↑ Marios Costambeys: Ívarr [Ívarr inn Beinlausi]. In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Vol. 29. 2004, pp. 443-445, here p. 443.
2. ^ Annals of Ulster 856 (recte 857).
3. ^ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 878.
4. ↑ See also Simon Keynes, Michael Lapidge (ed.): Alfred the Great. Asser's Life of King Alfred and other contemporary sources. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth 1983, ISBN 0-14-044409-2 , pp. 238 f., Note 44.
5. ↑ Overview of the events and the sources in Marios Costambeys: Ívarr [Ívarr inn Beinlausi]. In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Vol. 29. 2004, pp. 443f.
6. ↑ Annals of Ulster 872 (recte 873)
7. ^ On this problem, see Clare Downham: Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland. The Dynasty of Ívarr to AD 1014. 2007, pp. 2-9.
8. ↑ History files
9. ↑ Channel 4
10. ^ Rory McTurk: Studies in "Ragnars saga loðbrókar" and Its Major Scandinavian Analogues (= Medium aevum. Monographs. NS Vol. 15). Society for the Study of Mediaeval Languages ​​and Literature, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-907570-08-9 , pp. 40 f. (also: Dublin, University, Dissertation, 1985).