gods<\/a>. This brutality is highlighted when looking at Ivar\u2019s revenge on King Aelle, the killer of his father. Upon capture, Aelle is said to have been subject to death via \u2018blood eagle\u2019, a torture technique which involved the victim ending up resembling a dead bird of prey. In essence, this involved breaking the spine and ribs of Aelle, his lungs being pulled out his back and to top it off, salt sprinkled in his wounds. Knowing this, it is no surprise Ivar has such a brutal reputation.<\/p>\nHowever, it is not just the brutality that Ivar is famous for. Many tales describe the leader as a cunning strategist of incredible intelligence. Many of his battles are said to have used innovative strategies not concentrated on sheer force. In many instances, Ivar is said to have used concepts such as using half his army in upfront battle. To the competitors, this would make the army appear small, an easy defeat. Little did they know however, the other half of the army would be sneaking up and attacking from behind them.<\/p>\n
The Brute And The Strategist<\/h3>\n
One of the most famous instances of this style of clever strategy is recounted in relation to the defeat of King Aelle. Ivar is described as cleverly publicly standing down his army, admitting defeat and effectively fooling Aelle. As Aelle let his guard down, the real attack began, resulting in Aelle\u2019s capture.<\/p>\n
Perhaps, however, the biggest factor in the popularity in the study of Ivar is the mystery which surrounds Ivar\u2019s curious nickname. To this day, there is no concrete conclusion on why Ivar has been dubbed as Ivar \u2018the boneless\u2019. Various possible explanations exist ranging from the idea that he suffered from impotence to his physical stature. It has been suggested that this name was given life due to Ivar being of incredible height, a figure standing at 9 feet. In contrast, one of the most popular explanations of this nickname relates to quite the opposite; that a disability meant Ivar was of very short stature.<\/p>\n
The tales of Ivar the boneless describe him as being carried around on a shield by his army due to the inability to walk. It is said that unlike a usual Viking, Ivar used a cross bow rather than an axe to make up for this physical hindrance. Historians are in contrast about whether this should be seen as valid.<\/p>\n
For many, it is believed that this type of disability would have meant that there is no way Ivar would have been made king or leader of the army. However, for some, Ivar\u2019s sheer intelligence and cunning mind is viewed as making up for this. What can be concluded however, is that it is doubtful anyone will know the true story about the brutal Viking warlord Ivar the boneless.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the year 865, a reign of terror descended on\u00a0the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of England. Described as the most destructive and brutal invasion in English history, this dark tale of revenge would last for 14 years and engulf approximately half of the country. The Viking warrior responsible for leading this was none other than the leader […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1339"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1339"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3570,"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1339\/revisions\/3570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}