Documentaire

The Strangest Viking: Ivar Ragnarsson the Boneless.

In 865 AC, Britain invaded by army of Vikings lead by "cruel" and unbeat Ivar. The sagas about him were writen about 100 years after the events, so we don't know much about him. In this documentary, the idea of Ivar the Boneless having brittle bone desease is discussed.



According to the sagas
-Ivar's wife told her husband Ragnar to wait three days before consumating their union or their child would be disabled, but he couldn't wait, and they first son, Ivar, was not born healthy.
-Ragnar attacked Britain but was defeated and thrown in a pit of snakes, hoping his sons would avenge him.
-Ivar first decides unvikingly "too play cool" and hears the messengers out instead of killing them. He then starts planning to invade the whole of Britain, while making a show of longing for peace.
-He attacks when the peace treaty was about to be made, captures his father's killer and excecuts him through the "blood eagle" ritual, which was to turn the living victim into a bloody bird of prey (ribs cracked, lungs used as "wings" by being pulled out of his back).
-He pursues his conquest of the South of Britain, then sails to Ireland, conquers Dublin, then dies peacefully.
-He participated by his conquest in the unification of Britain.

Arguments for a brittlebone Ivar:
-We have an example of a brittlebone deseased Egyptian of importance (squeletton of the British Museum), so Ivar, as the elder son as thus more important person of his family after his father, could have been extraordinary enough to overcome his disability and rule over other Vikings.
-He was said to fight with a bow and arrows instead of swords or axes, and it was proven through the example of Paul Simons, a professional tennis player with brittle bone desease, that he could actually have used this bow.
-A brittle bone desease expert thinks it's possible.

Counter arguments:
-Physical perfection was needed to rule.
-We know of no exceptional leader that disabled.
-"Boneless" could be a mere nickname, as they were very commun and creative. Boneless could have meant flacid or impotent, refered to snakes, which were an important symbol for Ivar's family, or actually mean he had exceptionnaly large bones.
-According to what could be Ivar's grave, he could actually be an nine foot tall giant who clearly did not have brittle bones.

Conclusion:
It is possible that Ivar the Boneless had brittle bone desease, but we have no evidence of it aside from some depiction of him from the sagas.

NB: One of the interviewes was not very "nice" to Vikings:
-Vikings "trained murderers" = despise christian values.
-A cult to Odin soaked in the blood of sacrificed prisonners.

I question the accuracy of this documentary, which finds too much evidence in such a convenient way, and mainly refers to Vikings as warriors. I should check it up.