3 h 51 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 3 h 51 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What is courage worth in a world where a warrior must prove it before his people?
In the forests and plains of Brazil, long before Europeans arrive, Ubirajara must earn the honor his name carries: Lord of the Spear. A young chief of the Araguaia nation, he faces trials of courage in a world where rival peoples measure strength through a demanding code of honor.
Love draws Ubirajara toward Araci, a woman of the Tocantim nation, binding private feeling to the quarrels between their peoples. Pojucã, a proud Tocantim warrior, tests his strength and honor. In this short novel, José Martiniano de Alencar brings love, rivalry, and courage into a formal, poetic tale he calls a Tupi legend.
What you’ll discover
- Courage put to the test Follow a young chief whose bravery must become deeds before it earns recognition.
- Love across rival nations Meet Araci, whose bond with Ubirajara connects personal desire with conflict between peoples.
- A proud warrior's challenge Encounter Pojucã, a rival who puts the hero's strength and code of honor under pressure.
- Forests, plains, and legend Enter a vision of Indigenous Brazil shaped by a nineteenth-century novelist's poetic imagination.
- The roots of national writing Explore Alencar's effort to give Brazil a founding mythology rooted in its land and first peoples.
Who will love it
Readers who love heroic duels, feasts, forest imagery and songs will enjoy this tale of honor, hospitality and first love. It also suits those drawn to Brazilian literature and the old Tupi world.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Jaguarê seeks a worthy opponent
- Victory brings a name and responsibility
- Leadership must be earned in public
- Custom cannot command Jandira's love
- Hospitality protects a stranger's hidden name
- Arací must choose her own husband
- A true name threatens the marriage
- Songs and names defend a people
- Honor and love make competing claims
Who’s who
- UbirajaraYoung hunter of the Araguaia nation, first called Jaguarê, who seeks a worthy enemy and a warrior's name, then a bride.
- PojucanChief warrior of the Tocantim nation, the strongest man Jaguarê has met, who becomes his proud captive.
- AracíThe morning star, a swift huntress and daughter of the Tocantim chief, who chooses her husband with her own heart.
- JandiraA maiden of the Araguaia who has kept herself for Jaguarê and cannot bear to share his love.
- ItaquêGreat chief of the Tocantim nation, a warrior and weaver who holds hospitality as the most sacred law.
- CamacanOld chief of the Araguaia and father of Ubirajara, who once held the great bow of the nation.
- JacamimItaquê's wife, mother of Arací and Pojucan, who prepares the guest's feast and hides her grief with pride.
- CanicranChief of the Tapuias, who comes to the Tocantim lands seeking vengeance for an outrage against his people.
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Ubirajara
by José Martiniano de Alencar · 1874
Tired of besting jaguars, a young hunter seeks a worthy foe, then hurls his two-pointed spear into an emburana tree.
Challenging2–5 hours to read2 languages
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In short
Why would a young man walk three days across a plain, bow forgotten on his shoulder, just to find someone who might kill him? Jaguarê has beaten jaguars so often that those victories no longer satisfy him.
Ubirajara at a glance
- Reading time
- About 2 h 25 min1 h 55 min fast, 2 h 55 min slow
- Length
- 34,500 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1874by José Martiniano de Alencar
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 hunter who wants an enemy worthy of him
The story opens on the bank of the great river. Jaguarê, a young hunter of the Araguaia nation, walks with his bow hanging unused. Deer play near him and he does not look at them.
He has reached the age when a hunter must become a warrior, and he must earn the title through a great deed. So he has left his village and Jandira, the maiden who keeps herself for him. Three times the sun has set behind the Aratuba mountains, and no enemy has answered his war cry. He carries a double-pointed spear of purple craúba wood, which he made himself.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 15 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1874
- Language
- English
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Alencar, José Martiniano de. Ubirajara. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/ubirajara.
Alencar, J. M. de. (2026). Ubirajara. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/ubirajara (Original work published 1874)
Alencar, José Martiniano de. Ubirajara. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/ubirajara.
@book{alencar2026ubirajara,
author = {Alencar, José Martiniano de},
title = {Ubirajara},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/ubirajara},
note = {First published 1874}
}
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What is Ubirajara about?
It follows Jaguarê, a young Araguaia hunter who defeats the warrior Pojucan and takes the name Ubirajara. He then seeks the love of Arací, daughter of the Tocantim chief, and faces the claims of honor, hospitality and war.
What does the name Ubirajara mean?
Alencar explains it as lord of the spear, from the Tupi words for rod or spear and for lord. The hero takes it after winning with his own double-pointed spear, and it later names the united nation.
Is Ubirajara a true story?
No, it is a legend that Alencar invented. He built it on early travelers' and chroniclers' accounts of Tupi customs. He called it a sibling of Iracema and added notes to explain the Tupi words and rites.
The author
José Martiniano de Alencar
1829–1877 · Brazilian writer
José Martiniano de Alencar (1829–1877) was a Brazilian writer. The library has Ubirajara.
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