About this book
What if the love that draws you across the world begins before the life you remember?
Olaf Red-Cloak grows up among the Northmen, where courage, loyalty and a kept promise measure a man's worth. Proud and strong, he leaves the cold coasts of home for a wider world. In H. Rider Haggard's The Wanderer's Necklace, love and a jewel with a long history draw him far from familiar shores.
His journey brings the hard, plain world of the North into contrast with Constantinople. Sword fights and sea voyages carry the adventure forward, while Heliodore stands at the heart of Olaf's fate. Their bond seems to reach beyond a single life. For a man bound by honor, love tests what it means to keep faith when the cost is high.
What you’ll discover
- A warrior's binding code Follow Olaf as courage and loyalty demand more than strength with a sword.
- Love beyond one lifetime Explore a romance shaped by the possibility that souls may find each other again.
- From cold shores outward Travel from the Northern coasts toward Constantinople through an adventure of striking contrasts.
- A jewel with history Discover the necklace that helps draw a proud young warrior far from home.
- Adventure with emotional stakes Enjoy sword fights and sea voyages driven by love, loyalty and a costly sense of honor.
Who will love it
This book is for readers who love sweeping adventure, Viking sagas, and stories of love that outlasts death. It suits anyone who enjoys palace intrigue and loyal comrades.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A poet is betrothed to a beauty
- A bear hunt shows Olaf's sharp mind
- A ghost and a necklace test a lover
- Olaf robs the grave and dreams of Egypt
- Wedding morning brings betrayal and war
- Olaf dares to challenge Odin
- In Byzantium, Olaf guards a dangerous empress
- Heliodore and the battle in the garden
- Mercy matters more than vengeance
- Memory, fate, and the shape of the telling
Who’s who
- OlafA young Danish poet and harpist who loves peace and robs a grave for the woman he loves, then wanders south as Olaf Red-Sword.
- Iduna the FairAthalbrand's daughter, beautiful and vain, she wants the Wanderer's necklace above everything and betrays Olaf for a richer lord.
- SteinarOlaf's foster brother, strong and kind, who loves Olaf dearly yet is bewitched by Iduna and heir to Hakon's lands.
- RagnarOlaf's red-haired brother, fierce and quick to anger, who distrusts Iduna from the start and lives for battle.
- FreydisaOlaf's nurse and a priestess of Odin, wise, loyal, and gifted with sight, who guides and warns him.
- IreneThe ambitious Empress of Byzantium, who wants power and the love of her honest captain, and cannot bear to lose him.
- HeliodoreAn Egyptian princess of ancient blood who wears the other half of the necklace and loves Olaf across the ages.
- JoddA giant Norwegian lieutenant who commands the Northmen of the guard and would die rather than give up his general.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
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- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
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- The key ideas in about 9 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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La collana del Vagabondo
by H. Rider Haggard · 1914
A young skald robs a thousand-year-old grave for a necklace, and the dead man's dream starts to claim him.
Medium level10–20 hours to readItaliano
Excellent
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In short
What would you do if the woman you love said she would marry only the man who brought her a dead king's necklace? Olaf, a young Danish poet and harpist, answers by digging into a burial mound at night.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A poet is betrothed to a beauty
Olaf is the younger son of Thorvald, lord of the hall called Aar in Denmark. He looks back at his youth through the memory of a later life. He recalls a plain dotted with burial mounds, and a huge mound said to cover a chief called the Wanderer. His nurse Freydisa, a wise woman who serves Odin, tells him the man lived long ago.
Olaf has a red-haired older brother, Ragnar, and a foster brother, Steinar, whom he loves above all men. Ragnar is to be betrothed to Iduna, daughter of the fierce chief Athalbrand Fork-beard. Ragnar distrusts her at once, Iduna hates him in return, and the match falls apart. Then Athalbrand sees Olaf staring at his daughter. He scorns him as a thin skald, yet agrees, since he wants Thorvald's wealth and ships.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 9 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1914
- Language
- Italiano
- Reading time
- 6 h 55 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Haggard, H. Rider. The Wanderer's Necklace. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-wanderers-necklace.
Haggard, H. R. (2026). The wanderer's necklace. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-wanderers-necklace (Original work published 1914)
Haggard, H. Rider. The Wanderer's Necklace. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-wanderers-necklace.
@book{haggard2026wanderers,
author = {Haggard, H. Rider},
title = {The Wanderer's Necklace},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-wanderers-necklace},
note = {First published 1914}
}
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What is The Wanderer's Necklace about?
It follows Olaf, a Danish poet who robs an ancient grave for a necklace, loses his family to war, and leaves home after defying Odin, traveling through Byzantium and Egypt in search of a woman seen in a dream.
Who is the Wanderer in the book?
He is a king buried in a mound near Aar, said to have followed a dream of a necklace south and returned home to die. Olaf comes to believe that he and the Wanderer share one soul.
What does the necklace mean in the story?
The necklace of gold shells and emerald beetles is a bond between lives. Its reunited halves herald the lovers' meeting on earth again, and it brings sorrow to any other woman who wears it.
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