Ivar The Boneless: What Was Wrong With Ivar The Boneless In Real Life?

In reality, ‘Boneless’ might refer to a hereditary skeletal condition such as osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease) or an inability to walk.

The Viking sagas describe Ivar’s condition as “only cartilage was where bone should have been”. But otherwise, he grew tall and handsome.

According to the Tale of Ragnar Lodbrok, Ivar’s bonelessness was the result of a curse.

His mother, Aslaug, was Ragnar’s third wife. She was described as a völva, a type of seer or clairvoyant. She said that she and her husband must wait three nights before consummating their marriage after his return following a long separation (while he was in England raiding).

However, Ragnar was overcome with lust after such a long separation and did not heed her words. As a result, Ivar was born with weak bones.

Another hypothesis is that he was actually known as “the Hated”, which in Latin would be Exosus.

A medieval scribe with only a basic knowledge of Latin could easily have interpreted it as ex (without) os (bone), thus “the Boneless”, although it is hard to align this theory with the direct translation of his name given in Norse sources.

While the sagas describe Ivar’s physical disability, they also emphasise his wisdom, cunning, and mastery of strategy and tactics in battle.