8 h 34 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Before the familiar Viking raids, a young Norseman takes to the sea, bound by honor, loyalty, and the warrior’s life.
In Paul Du Chaillu’s Ivar the Viking, the sea is a road that leads far from home. Ivar, a young Norse warrior, sails across the Baltic and the North Sea as he rises among fighting men. Ships, sea crossings, battles, and feasts fill a story set in the third and fourth centuries.
Alongside Ivar’s adventures, Du Chaillu explores how Northern people live, worship, travel, and bind themselves to leaders through oaths. Odin and Thor belong to the characters’ everyday beliefs. The novel also gives shape to the author’s argument that the early North holds skilled sailors, lawmakers, and craftsmen, not warriors alone.
What you’ll discover
- A young warrior’s rise Follow Ivar among fighting men, where honor and loyalty guide his course.
- The sea as road Sail across the Baltic and North Sea on voyages that carry Ivar far from home.
- Oaths and shared feasts Explore the bonds that hold warriors together, from loyalty to their leader to life among companions.
- Gods in daily life Discover a fictional Norse world where belief in Odin and Thor runs through everyday experience.
- An unhurried Northern world Settle into formal prose that gives space to customs, craftsmanship, worship, and travel.
Who will love it
Readers who love sagas, Norse gods, dragon ships and rich everyday detail will feel at home here. It also suits anyone curious about how Vikings dressed, feasted, judged crimes and courted.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Viking hall on Gotland opens the world
- The Norns decide a child's fate at birth
- Foster parents shape a boy in body and mind
- At fifteen, a young chief learns wisdom and courage
- Two rivals swear to become foster brothers
- Yule vows send great fleets against Rome
- Storms and omens test a warrior's courage
- A trading voyage brings distant lands close
- Fate, friendship and honor drive the story
Who’s who
- IvarSon of Hjorvard of Gotland, raised to be a warrior and ruler, who seeks fame, fair play and the love of Randalin.
- HjorvardIvar's father, the widely ranging Hersir of Gotland, a lucky sea raider who prizes generosity and keeps his oaths.
- HjalmarIvar's foster brother from Engel, a champion runner and swimmer who loves Astrid and swears to marry her.
- SigurdThe eldest foster brother, a seasoned Viking and sensible peacemaker who has not yet met the woman meant for him.
- SigmundA foster brother and warrior who falls in love with the shy Solveig at an autumn sacrifice.
- RandalinYngvi's second daughter, learned, brave in spirit and honest, who admires valor and gives her heart to Ivar.
- YngviHersir of Svithjod at Upsalir, a kindly, generous ruler who gathers great champions and poets around him.
- StarkadA powerful Hersir feuding with Hjorvard over an inheritance and fearing Ivar's revenge.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 8 h 34 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Ivar le Viking in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Ivar le Viking
by Paul B. Du Chaillu · 1893
Ivar, a Viking chief's son, grows from fostered boy to raider, lawgiver and suitor in third-century Gotland.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
What would it be like to sit in a Viking hall sixteen hundred years ago? Paul B. Du Chaillu tells the story of Ivar, son of the sea chief Hjorvard of Gotland, as he grows up and seeks fame.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Viking hall on Gotland opens the world
Du Chaillu begins at the burial mounds on Gotland, where Hjorvard and his son Ivar lie. He sets the story between the years 270 and 320, when Norse fleets press hard on the Roman Empire. Hjorvard, whose name means widely ranging, rules from the burg of Dampstadir and has never lost a battle.
The author describes the place with loving care. Wooden halls with carved dragon heads on their roofs surround a grassy square. In the bay lie dragon ships that each carry hundreds of men.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Ivar le Viking
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Ivar the Viking about?
It follows Ivar, son of Hjorvard of Gotland, from his birth around 275 through fostering, raids on the Roman world and distant trading voyages. It shows Norse customs, laws and beliefs.
Is Ivar the Viking a true story?
Du Chaillu says it portrays the actual lives of Norse chiefs and that every object named has been found in Scandinavian museums. It is a novel built from sagas, graves and finds, set between 270 and 320.
Who are the Nornir in the book?
They are three fate goddesses, Urd the Past, Verdandi the Present and Skuld the Future. They visit each newborn at night and decree the life, and even the gods cannot undo it.
The author
Paul Du Chaillu
French American explorer and writer
He first became known for his travels in Africa, where he reported gorillas and pygmies that many readers doubted. He later turned to Scandinavia, coined the name Land of the Midnight Sun, and wrote The Viking Age, which this novel follows.
More like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
