14 minSummaryRead it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout 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
- Olaf mistakes desire for trust
- A wounded pride makes a promise
- The necklace carries another life
- Betrayal turns a wedding into war
- Forgiveness leads Olaf to defiance
- Honesty becomes dangerous at court
- Love faces the demands of power
- Mercy offers another kind of courage
- Love and mercy outlast worldly power
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, 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.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- 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.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook opens when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook 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 USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
The Wanderer's Necklace in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
The Wanderer's Necklace
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 level5–10 hours to read20 languages
Learn a language with medium classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeRenews every year · Cancel anytimeHow it works
- Read, large type too
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
“Enchantment is just what this writer exercised; he fixed pictures in our minds that thirty years have been unable to wear away.”
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.
The Wanderer's Necklace at a glance
- Reading time
- About 6 h 10 min4 h 55 min fast, 7 h 25 min slow
- Length
- 88,600 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1914by H. Rider Haggard
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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.
Renews every year · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer. Your place follows you, and you can make the type as big as you like.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1914
- Language
- English
- 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}
}
Free gifts
USD 580 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
USD 170FREE - Every eBookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about The Wanderer's Necklace
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 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.
The author
H. Rider Haggard
1856–1925 · English adventure novelist
Henry Rider Haggard (1856–1925) was an English novelist. He was born in Norfolk, lived in southern Africa from 1875 to 1881, and later settled in Norfolk. He wrote King Solomon’s Mines (1885), She (1887), and Beatrice (1890). He also wrote about agriculture and rural life. He died in London.
“I dare deny!”
More by H. Rider Haggard
See all their booksMore 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 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
