Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found athttp://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rwar20

Download by: [Australian Catholic University] Date: 10 September 2015, At: 01:19

World Archaeology

ISSN: 0043-8243 (Print) 1470-1375 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rwar20

What the Vikings did for fun? Sports and pastimesin medieval northern Europe

Leszek Gardeła

To cite this article: Leszek Gardeła (2012) What the Vikings did for fun? Sports andpastimes in medieval northern Europe, World Archaeology, 44:2, 234-247, DOI:10.1080/00438243.2012.669640

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2012.669640

Published online: 19 Apr 2012.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 813

View related articles

What the Vikings did for fun? Sports andpastimes in medieval northern Europe

Leszek Gardeła

Abstract

Although the Viking Age has been studied for many years and from diverse interdisciplinary

perspectives, still very little attention is given to the various pastimes of the Norsemen. This articleseeks to explore what the Vikings did for ‘fun’ both inside and outside their homes and in differentregions in their diaspora. Attention is paid to games and pastimes of both children and adults andthese matters are examined in the context of textual and archaeological evidence.

Keywords

Vikings; sports; games; pastimes; leisure; toys.

Introduction

The Viking Age has often been imagined as a turbulent and violent period in history.

Armed with their razor-sharp weapons, the Norsemen are portrayed in popular culture as

people you would not want to meet on a dark night. In contemporary academic works on

this period considerations regarding diverse forms and places of settlement, expeditions,

war activities and ritual practices are dominant. In contrast to these matters, much less

space is usually devoted to the daily lives of the Norse population and what happened at

their farms when they were not engaged in hard manual labor, bloody feuds or overseas

expeditions (but cf. Batey et al. 1994: 64–5; Foote and Wilson 1970: 187–90; Odman 1992:

143; Simpson 1967; Wolf 2004).

Although life in the late Iron Age was full of tensions and dangers, it appears that

people still found time to have moments of cheerfulness and pleasure. As the textual and

archaeological evidence suggests, at peaceful times the Norsemen did engage in a wide

range of pastimes. This article examines how and where the Viking Age Scandinavians

spent their free time, what kind of games they played and with whom. Were there different

World Archaeology Vol. 44(2): 234–247 The Archaeology of Sport and Pastimes

ª 2012 Taylor & Francis ISSN 0043-8243 print/1470-1375 online

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2012.669640

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Aus

tral

ian

Cat

holic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:19

10

Sept

embe

r 20

15

pastimes for men and women? How did children spend their free time? Did their games

imitate the everyday lives of their parents and were they violent or peaceful?

Answers to these questions are not easy to provide due to the nature of the source

material that we have at hand. The Old Norse sagas, which are frequently employed in the

discussions on the Viking Age, were written down predominantly in the thirteenth century

and the degree to which they reflect Viking Age realities may be questionable. In order to

verify which information may be authentic and which reflects the cultural and intellectual

milieu of the Middle Ages, these textual sources are often confronted with archaeological

evidence. However, in the case of Viking Age pastimes, the archaeological sources are

likewise scarce, problematic and often found in contexts that are far from being

straightforward. Nonetheless, some conclusions can still be reached and it is the aim of this

paper to shed more light on the matters listed above. Our study of the various forms of

leisure activities in the Viking diaspora will therefore begin with considerations of the

space and time in which these took place.

Inside and out

The saga accounts suggest that many games were strictly outdoor activities, while only

some were associated with indoor spaces. This is easy to understand – the limited space of

Viking Age houses would usually not allow for organizing a ball game, a wrestling match

or a horse fight. Large games involving participants and observers from different districts

were played on solemn occasions, for example during assemblies (þing) or ceremonies.

It is vital to observe that in certain cases the locations for these seem to have been rather

unusual (cf. Ellis 1943: 106–7). In Gongu-Hrolfs saga (5), for example, there is a mention of

games being played for Jarl Þorgny in the vicinity of a grave mound which stood near the

town. When the weather was good the Jarl would often sit there and hold meetings or

watch the games played for him.

Some outdoor activities could be undertaken only at particular times of the year, either

winter or summer (the Scandinavians of the late Iron Age distinguished only two seasons:

Wolf 2004: 61–3). All kinds of natural conditions could also have a strong effect on the

selection of particular locations. Most of the games described in the sagas are set in

Iceland, which for several months each year is covered in darkness. This would surely

affect the participants of the games and limit their vision unless some form of artificial

lighting was used (of which nothing is mentioned in the sources, however). In addition, we

might also think about the frequent, strong winds which could further impede the players.

Since nature itself might have strongly affected the results of tournaments, perhaps this

was one of the reasons why most of the outdoor games required full contact. The balls and

bats that are occasionally mentioned in the sagas also seem to be rather hard and heavy –

perhaps due to the requirements of the games themselves or because of the unpredictable

weather conditions and especially strong winds which could have blown the ball away had

it been too light. In one such instance hitting a man on the head with a ball caused

bleeding (Grettis saga Asmundarsonar 15).

After this brief introduction, let us turn to the particular pastimes of the Norsemen and

examine their different variants in further detail.

What the Vikings did for fun? 235

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Aus

tral

ian

Cat

holic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:19

10

Sept

embe

r 20

15

Children and toys

Although increasingly popular in North America and Western Europe (cf. Orme 2001;

Sofaer Derevenski 2000), the archaeology and anthropology of childhood and children’s

activities are still among the under-represented fields in Viking Age scholarship (but cf.

Callow 2006; Graslund 1973; Jakobsson 2003; Jakobsson and Tulinius 2005; Welinder

1998; Wolf 2004: 14–16; see also articles in the journal Childhood in the Past).

Only limited information can be found about children’s lives from the Old Norse written

accounts, where children are usually overshadowed by, predominantly male, adult

individuals. Likewise, not much is known about children’s afterlife and there were no

runestones raised in their memory (Wolf 2004: 15). Furthermore, apart from occasional

finds of alleged toys, little can be said about what children did and how they spent their

free time.

Toys, or at least items interpreted as such, were found both at settlement sites and at

cemeteries in association with children’s graves, for example at Birka (Uppland, Sweden)

and Barshalder (Gotland) (Callow 2006: 66; Graslund 1973; Rundqvist 2003: 70) or

Lindholm Høje (Lerche Trolle 1996: 85). Among other objects such as jewelry, children’s

graves tend to include small bronze rattles or bells. Interestingly, the Viking Age child

graves do not appear in numbers which one would expect. This leads to the supposition

that children may have been buried away from the adults or in a manner that is difficult to

identify today (Callow 2006: 58–9). Some scholars have also argued that the lack of child

graves could be interpreted as a product of infanticide (Clover 1988; but see also critical

comments in Callow 2006: 59–60).

Viking Age toys, found in funerary and settlement contexts, appear to have been made

from different kinds of materials including wood, bark, bone and occasionally metals. The

sagas rarely mention items that could be regarded as children’s toys. Among the

exceptional instances is a passage from Vıga-Glums saga (12) where a small bronze horse

(messingahestr) was given by one child to another to play with (cf. Callow 2006: 66 who

mentions that a similar object was apparently once found at Þingvellir, but is now lost).

Miniature horses and other animals occur sporadically among Viking Age archae-

ological material. While in some instances they probably had ritualistic overtones or were

employed as weights (cf. Jensen 2010: 37), in others it is plausible to think that they were

actually used as children’s toys. It seems that wooden horses were most frequently

intended as toys (Jensen 2010: 37), but it is not impossible to conceive that children reused

various zoomorphic or anthropomorphic items originally intended for other purposes.

Wooden horses have been found, for example, in Viking Age Dublin, Trondheim, Staraja

Ladoga and the Faeroe Islands (Arge 2000: 163). The miniature wooden horse from

Fishamble Street in Dublin had a realistically incised human mask on each side and some

spirals on the joints and belly in addition to a barely visible eye (Lang 1988: 79). The rather

primitive style of the ornaments might imply that they were incised by an amateur,

perhaps even a child. Another wooden horse, very realistically carved, is known from

Trondheim and dated between 1100 and 1125. The find is usually interpreted as a toy, but

it must be noted that the artist, in addition to carving the head and tail, also paid close

attention to the animal’s sexual organ (Roesdahl and Wilson 1992: 231). The realistic

representation of the latter could imply that the object may have been used for some other

236 Leszek Gardeła

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Aus

tral

ian

Cat

holic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:19

10

Sept

embe

r 20

15

purposes. The wooden horse from Staraja Ladoga is more schematic than the others

discussed above and it appears to be missing its legs, though the head and mane are carved

in some detail (Roesdahl and Wilson 1992: 301). Small horses made from bronze and

wood are also known from West Slavic sites dated to the late Iron Age and their functions

may have been manifold (Łukaszyk 2010).

Children’s toys could also appear in the form of small wooden boats, about 30cm in

length, known from the excavations at Dublin (Lang 1988: 91) and Trondheim (Roesdahl

and Wilson 1992: 231). The boat found in Dublin had diagonal lines incised, which may

represent serpents (Lang 1988: 91). The boat from Trondheim, dated to c. 1100–25 is

believed to be a toy, but its appearance suggests that it had been carved by a skilled

woodworker. Interestingly the shape of the item has an affinity with the Viking Age

merchant vessels known as knorr. While it is likely that these objects were used as toys, it is

also possible that some of them may have functioned as models for larger vessels. Similarly

to the miniature animals, there is a certain ambivalence in the way we can perceive these

finds. It is worth adding that different types of miniature boats are also known from early

medieval Poland, for example from Gdansk, Opole and Szczecin (cf. Gomułka 2010;

Kowalska 2011).

Figure 1 A miniature horse made from wood found in Fishamble Street, Dublin, Ireland. The

miniature has an anthropomorphic face/mask incised on each side as well as spirals on the joints andbelly. After Lang (1988: 34). Courtesy of the National Museum of Ireland.

What the Vikings did for fun? 237

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Aus

tral

ian

Cat

holic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:19

10

Sept

embe

r 20

15

Alleged toys that are known from archaeological contexts also include weapons and

tools – both miniature ones (Jensen 2010: 42–58) and those of larger sizes, but made from

wood (Khoroshev 2007). The excavations in Dublin, Novgorod and Staraja Ladoga have

yielded a number of such finds. The wooden swords from Dublin were very realistically

made. On the basis of their features it is even possible to distinguish to which sword type

they belonged. A wooden sword 23.7cm long with a sub-triangular pommel and a straight

guard was fully functional rather than decorative (Lang 1988: 33, 79, fig. 51). The wooden

swords from Staraja Ladoga, dated to the eighth and ninth centuries are reminiscent of

their full-size Frankish counterparts (Roesdahl and Wilson 1992: 301). Although the

wooden swords are frequently perceived as toys, it is also possible that some of them

served other purposes such as weaving or as ‘training swords’ for adults (Kotowicz 2008).

Alternatively, some weaving swords may have been used as toys by children who would

borrow or ‘steal’ them from other members of the household.

Some children, however, were given real weapons of iron, albeit proportional to their

stature. As we read in Grettis saga Asmundarsonar (48), a 16-year-old boy named Arnorr

was said to be armed with a small axe. It is clear that the weapon was real since it was later

used in a fight against Grettir, the main protagonist of the saga. Real weapons of small

sizes were also found in some Viking Age children’s graves. A child buried at Grımsstaðir

(Iceland) was accompanied by a small spearhead (Callow 2006: 63; Eldjarn 2000: 211) and

another one buried at Straumur (Iceland) was accompanied by a small axe and knife

Figure 2 A miniature boat made from wood found in Fishamble Street, Dublin, Ireland. On the prowof the boat there are incisions which may perhaps represent serpents. After Lang (1988: 80).Courtesy of the National Museum of Ireland.

238 Leszek Gardeła

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Aus

tral

ian

Cat

holic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:19

10

Sept

embe

r 20

15

(Callow 2006: 63, 67; Eldjarn 2000: 221–3). In a grave at Laufahvammur (Iceland) a child

had a small axe and a spearhead (Callow 2006: 67; Eldjarn 2000: 58).

In addition to the different toy types mentioned above, children also may have played

with small pebbles (these are occasionally identified in a funerary context – cf. Callow

2006: 67; Lerche Trolle 1996: 85), beads, pieces of wood or other organic materials which

were available in the household and its vicinity. The finds of miniature clay pots in

different areas of Scandinavia may further indicate that some children played with clay. In

winter they would certainly throw snowballs and, as Foote and Wilson observed (1970:

189), in one instance a twelfth-century nobleman mistook the whiz of an axe for that of a

boy’s snowball. The results of this mistake are easy to deduce.

Viking Age children may have also used animal bones in the way children from

twentieth-century Iceland did. Callow (2006: 67) observed that in modern times

children played with bones of cattle and sheep and regarded them not as parts of

animals, but as their actual representations. It may be argued, therefore, that perhaps

some of the unusual arrangements of animal bones found during excavations of late

Iron Age sites may at times result simply from children’s games and not necessarily

reflect pagan ritual practices.

Ball and scraper games

Among games played outdoors by both children and adults were ball games, known as

knattleikr. The rules of these games are not known in detail, but on the basis of the

saga accounts it may be inferred that they involved full contact and at times a bat may

have been used (cf. Gısla saga Surussonar 15, 18; Grettis saga Asmundarsonar 15; Egils

saga Skalla-Grımssonar 40; Eyrbyggja saga 43). Knattleikr involved throwing the ball,

chasing and running, but further particulars remain unknown. It may be deduced from

the saga evidence (Egils saga Skalla-Grımssonar 40) that at least four participants were

on the ‘pitch’ at the same time and that opposing players were lined up facing each

other. Sometimes the ball games could evoke conflicts and end in real fights with fatal

consequences.

Egill Skallagrımsson, one of the (in)famous heroes, was said to be particularly fond of

playing all kinds of games and a memorable event in his biography is associated with a ball

game of the kind described above. According to Egils saga Skalla-Grımssonar (40) the

game was arranged early in the winter and people from all over the district came to the

plain where it was taking place. Egill, who must have been under 12 years old, was

competing against an 11-year-old boy named Grımr, who seems to have been much

stronger. At some point Egill lost his temper and struck his opponent with a bat, but was

immediately seized and dashed to the ground. After complaining about these events to his

friend Þorðr Granason, Egill took an axe and drove it into Grımr’s head.

From the saga evidence it appears that knattleikr was only a man’s game and women

never actively participated. Women could have observed the games from a distance, but it

seems that even such a passive participation could lead to dangerous consequences.

In another ball game, also organized in winter, Egill and Þorðr Granason were

competing against Egill’s father – the berserker and blacksmith Skalla-Grımr. The game

What the Vikings did for fun? 239

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Aus

tral

ian

Cat

holic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:19

10

Sept

embe

r 20

15

had a very dramatic ending and the enraged Skalla-Grımr killed two people – Þorðr

Granason and also a female observer.

In addition to ball games, Harðar saga (23) mentions some kind of ‘scraper game’

(skofuleikr) played during Yuletide with horn scrapers. Unfortunately their appearance

was not described and nothing like this has ever been found or identified by archaeologists.

It seems, however, that making this kind of equipment was not very time consuming,

because Horðr managed to make his own scrapers in one night (Harðar saga 23). The rules

of skofuleikr are not described in the sagas, except for noting that the players were divided

into teams and each had a chosen opponent. Similarly to knattleikr, skofuleikr was very

rough and physically exhausting. The game mentioned inHarðar saga (23) even resulted in

the deaths of some of its participants.

Although ball games were usually played outdoors Halfdanar saga Eysteinssonar (8)

mentions a game which involved a ball and a bat that took place inside a hall (in fact

before the king and queen) (Palsson and Edwards 1985: 178). The peculiar location made

it more difficult to play due to the presence of furniture – at one point the ball rolled under

the queen’s stool. This saga description is exceptional, but, because of its late date, it must

be approached with some caution. It is not impossible, however, that ball games were

played inside large-size buildings, yet probably mostly in situations when severe weather

conditions would not allow for organizing them outside.

Tests of strength: wrestling and stone lifting

As we have already seen, a lot of games served as tests of strength (Foote and Wilson 1970:

189) and also as an important way of demonstrating masculine qualities. In addition to the

aforementioned ball games, wrestling competitions (glıma) were also popular. The sagas

imply that wrestling – although brutal in itself – could also end in a real fight and even in

someone’s death. One such competition, described in detail in Grettis saga Asmundarsonar

(72), took place during the spring assembly at Hegraness in Iceland, where people came

both for lawsuits and for entertainment:

Some young men were saying that in such fine weather it would be good to have some

wrestling and other sports. There was loud approval of this, and men started gathering

and sitting down below the booths. Hjalti and his brother Thorbjorn Ongul were the

leaders in the games; Thorbjorn was a boisterous man, and organized the games with

great vigour. Everyone had to do what Thorbjorn wanted; he grabbed each man by the

shoulder and pushed him on to the field. First the weakest men wrestled, then the less

weak, and so on.(translation after Fox and Palsson 1974: 148)

Among activities that could relate to sports or leisure activities was also stone-lifting. The

saga hero Grettir was famous for lifting all kinds of heavy rocks or stones (Grettis saga

Asmundarsonar 16, 61). Another man named Bjorn was, however, considered as almost his

equal in sports and along with Grettir he swam down Hitar River all the way from the lake

to the sea (58).

240 Leszek Gardeła

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Aus

tral

ian

Cat

holic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:19

10

Sept

embe

r 20

15

Swimming, drowning and bathing

Laxdœla saga (40) contains a mention of a swimming competition taking place in the

autumn in the River Nid in Norway. The aim was to wrestle with the opponent and keep

him under the water for as long as possible. This is how the saga describes a tournament

between Kjartan and a local man who turned out to be King Olafr Tryggvason himself:

Kjartan then dived out into the river and swam over to the man who was such a strong

swimmer, pushed him underwater and held him down for some time, before letting him

come up again. The other had not been above water long before he grasped Kjartan

and forced him underwater and held him under so long that Kjartan felt enough was

enough. They both emerged once more, but neither spoke to the other. On the third try

both of them went underwater and were under much longer. Kjartan was far from

certain what the outcome would be and realized that he had never before been in such a

tight situation. Finally both of them came up and swam ashore.(translation after Kunz 2000: 347)

Aside from the swimming or rather ‘drowning competition’, one other activity could also

be regarded as a pastime – bathing. Especially in Iceland this was done for purely practical

reasons, but we can assume that people relaxed in the hot waters and spent a long time

there. In Grettis saga Asmundarsonar (75) it is said that Grettir bathed in a hot pool at

Reykir in Iceland during the night – to get warmer after his long and exhausting journey.

Oar-walking

We have already mentioned how King Olafr Tryggvason was said to have participated in a

‘drowning competition’ in Norway. The King was also famous for other skills and perhaps

the most spectacular one was ‘walking forward and aft on his great warship outboard by

stepping from oar to oar as his men rowed’ (Foote and Wilson 1970: 189, emphasis in

original). In this context we may recall the scene from the movie The Vikings, where Kirk

Douglas is jumping from one oar to another. Both the movie scene and attempts by

modern-day Viking re-enactors have proved that this was indeed possible.

Skiing and skating

Skiing and skating are sports that could be performed only during cold periods. The Old

Norse written accounts do not mention skiing very frequently and it is usually associated

more with the indigenous Sami population than with the Norse. The earliest find of skis

from the Scandinavian territory (Sweden) is about 5,200 years old and the oldest pair of

skis found in Norway comes from Vosseskavlen in Hordaland and dates to the twelfth

century (Roesdahl and Wilson 1992: 233). Interestingly, even one of the Norse gods, Ullr,

was associated with skiing. Furthermore, Ullr is represented in the written sources as an

archer and skater (Simek 1993: 339). The latter activity may also be alluded to in Saxo

What the Vikings did for fun? 241

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Aus

tral

ian

Cat

holic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:19

10

Sept

embe

r 20

15

Grammaticus (Gesta Danorum III), who wrote that Ollerus (i.e. Ullr) could travel over the

sea on a bone (Simek 1993: 339).

The archaeological evidence suggests that the Viking Age people also skated on bone

skates. These skates may have been employed simply for ‘fun’ – both by children and

adults – or for practical reasons, especially in short- or long-distance travels. Bone skates

were identified in large numbers at Birka (Wolf 2004: 33), but also in Lund (Roesdahl and

Wilson 1992: 233) and in their appearance they are similar to the finds from the West

Slavic lands (Kurnatowska 2008: 360). The early medieval bone skates, unlike the ones we

use today, did not have sharp edges and therefore the skater had to use a sharp stick

(sometimes with an iron tip) to propel himself forwards (Roesdahl and Wilson 1992: 233).

Horse fights

Among pastimes involving the use of animals that are mentioned in the sagas are horse

fights. These events were well attended by people from different regions of Iceland (cf.

Brennu-Njals saga 59; Grettis saga Asmundarsonar 29). Occasionally, as at the meeting in

Langafit below Reykir, the contestants would hold their animals by the tail and use a stick

to drive the horse on (Grettis saga Asmundarsonar 29). In some parts of Norway horse

fights were continued long after the Middle Ages (Foote and Wilson 1970: 189). Perhaps

the way Viking Age children played with miniature wooden horses was to imitate the fights

of real, large animals.

Drinking and eating

It appears that in the Viking Age drinking and eating were among the favorite pastimes,

and took place both indoors and outside. Feasts were organized on different occasions –

weddings, funerals, religious ceremonies or larger gatherings. During these meetings, both

men and women ate and drank, sometimes to excess. The sagas frequently mention feasts,

but usually little is said about what exactly was eaten or drunk. Alcoholic beverages at this

time included mostly beer or mead, though wine may have also been drunk. Several sagas

contain accounts about special drinking competitions conducted during the feasts (cf.

Egils saga Skalla-Grımssonar 48; Orvar-Odds saga 27). Women also took part in these

games, drinking with men in pairs (Egils saga Skalla-Grımssonar 48).

Board games

Board games play a prominent part in the sagas and Old Norse poetry. In addition,

gaming boards and gaming pieces are well known from archaeological contexts (cf.

Rundqvist and Williams 2008 – therein further references). The presence of gaming boards

in boat graves or as incisions on chests implies that they may have been played not only at

home, but also during longer expeditions (Batey et al. 1998: 64). One of the prerequisites

of a nobly born individual was being skilful in playing board games.

242 Leszek Gardeła

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Aus

tral

ian

Cat

holic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:19

10

Sept

embe

r 20

15

Interestingly, the game known as hnefatafl also had ritualistic overtones (van Hammel

1934). These are clear in the Eddic poem Voluspa (8, 58), where the fate of the gods seems

to be somehow linked to the gaming pieces (Dronke 1997: 9).

As we learn from the sagas, some people thought that playing board games was a waste

of time. Such was the case of the stepmother of Þorbjorn ongul, who, upon seeing the

game being played, snatched one of the gaming pieces and stuck its point into Þorbjorn’s

face which resulted in the eye coming out onto his cheek (Grettis saga Asmundarsonar 70).

In response, Þorbjorn grabbed the woman and strangled her.

Music, poetry and performance

The Old Norse written sources mention different kinds of musical instruments, many of

which have not survived. Bone flutes (Roesdahl andWilson 1992: 236, fig. 72), blowing horns

(cf. Harðar saga 13) and blowing pipes are among those known from the archaeological

record. Other types of instruments may have included bells or rattles, which are usually

discovered in funerary contexts in different areas within the Viking diaspora (Rundqvist

2003: 70). Some instrumentsmay have also beenmade from animal jawbones (Gardeła 2011:

49–51) and played by rubbing a wooden stick or bone against the teeth in the jawbone.

Music seems to have been played at different times – in everyday life but also on very

solemn occasions, such as weddings, official feasts, funerals or religious ceremonies. Gongu-

Hrolfs saga (37) describes awedding banquet duringwhich ‘all kinds of stringed instruments,

harps and fiddles, pipes and psalter, were to be heard. There was beating of drums and a

blowing of horns, with every variety of pleasant play to cheer the body of man’ (translation

after Palsson and Edwards 1980: 121–2). The Arab traveler Ibn Fadl�an in his account of a

Rus’ funeral also wrote that the deceased chieftain was buried in an underground chamber

accompanied by a musical instrument (Montgomery 2000: 16). During the further stages of

the ceremony the warriors would beat their shields, which gave a drumming effect. So far,

however, no actual drums from the VikingAge are known, although these were used by their

northern neighbors – the Sami. One passage from the Eddic poem Lokasenna (24) mentions

an object known as vett, which could have been a drum (Price 2002: 174).

Little is known about dancing, but some scholars have argued that dancing scenes with

ritualistic overtones could be seen on some of the Migration Period and Vendel period

iconographic finds (Holmqvist 1960).

In addition to music, the Norse also organized different kinds of dramatic performances

which involved reciting poetry and may have included miming and mummery (Foote and

Wilson 1970: 188; Gunnell 1995, 2007). Two masks made from felt which may have been

used in some form of drama or ritual activity were found in the harbor of the Viking town

of Hedeby (Price 2002: 171–4).

Other pastimes and conclusions

This article merely scratches the surface of the complex subject of sports and leisure

activities in the Viking Age. Also forms of pastime other than those discussed above could

What the Vikings did for fun? 243

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Aus

tral

ian

Cat

holic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:19

10

Sept

embe

r 20

15

be encountered in the sagas, such as a skin-throwing game (hornaskinnleikr or skinnleikr)

described in Barðar saga Snæfellsass (13) or a turf-game from Eyrbyggja saga (41), but

very little is known about how they were played. Surely, carving in wood and decorating

objects with all kinds of complex designs but also simple graffiti could be regarded as a

pastime (Foote and Wilson 1970: 190) and some apparently unfinished incisions on Viking

Age wooden objects may bear witness to this. Of course, sex would be considered as a

pastime too (cf. Price 2005), as well as hunting, falconry and fishing.

Although the late Iron Age Scandinavians are often portrayed as representatives of a

‘culture of violence’, the available textual and archaeological sources surveyed above

demonstrate that it was not always so. The Norse resorted to all kinds of pastimes or

games and, while a large amount of them involved roughness and violence (wrestling,

swimming, stone-lifting), there existed also those that did not (board games, poetry, music

or drama).

The harsh living conditions, the northern climate as well as worldviews in which war

played a prominent role surely had an effect on what Norsemen considered ‘fun’ and

entertainment. An ideal man, at least according to the written accounts, had to be strong

and skilful, at times being able to resort to impressive trickery. These skills were trained

and developed from the early days of his childhood to the moment when he entered

adulthood. So far, we know very little about what pastimes the women engaged in, but the

sagas suggest that they were keen, though rather passive observers of the games taking

place in the open fields (Hallfreðar saga 2). Nonetheless, like the men, some women were

also skilled in composing poetic verses and furthermore they could create beautifully

embroidered textiles. Although they did not take part in the violent games of men, we

might assume that they were one of the important reasons why these took place. Through

the display of physical strength and other masculine qualities men always wanted to

impress them.

Department of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen

leszekgardela@abdn.ac.uk

References

Primary sources

Bjorn K. Þorolfsson and Guðni Jonsson (eds) 1943. Vestfirðinga sogur. Gısla saga Surussonar.Fostbrœðra saga. þattr þormoðar. Havarðar saga Isfirðings. Auðunar þattr Vestfirzka. þorvarðar þattrKrakunefs. Islenzk Fornrit VI. Reykjavık: Hið Islenzka Fornritafelag.

Davidson, H.E. and Fisher, P. (ed. and trans.) 2008. Saxo Grammaticus. The History of the Danes.Books I–IX. Woodbridge: D.S. Brewer.

Dronke, U. 1997. The Poetic Edda, Vol. 2, Mythological Poems. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Einar Ol. Sveinsson (ed.) 1934. Laxdœla saga. Halldors þættir Snorrasonar. Stufs þattr. IslenzkFornrit V. Reykjavık: Hið Islenzka Fornritafelag.

Einar Ol. Sveinsson (ed.) 1939. Vatnsdœla saga. Hallfreðar saga. Kormaks saga. Hromundar þattrHalta. Hrafns þattr Guðrunarsonar. Islenzk Fornrit VIII. Reykjavık: Hið Islenzka Fornritafelags.

Einar Ol. Sveinsson (ed.) 1944. Brennu-Njals saga. Islenzk Fornrit XII. Reykjavık: Hið IslenzkaFornritafelag.

244 Leszek Gardeła

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Aus

tral

ian

Cat

holic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:19

10

Sept

embe

r 20

15

Einar Ol. Sveinsson and Matthias Þorðarson (eds) 1935. Eyrbyggja saga. Brands þattr orva. Eirıkssaga rauða. Grœnlendinga saga. Grœnlendinga þattr. Islenzk Fornrit IV. Reykjavık: Hið IslenzkaFornritafelag.

Fox, D. and Palsson, H. (trans.) 1974. Grettir’s saga. Toronto, ON, Buffalo, NY, and London:University of Toronto Press.

Guðni Jonsson (ed.) 1936. Grettis saga Asmundarsonar. Bandamanna saga. Odds þattr ofeigssonar.

Islenzk Fornrit VII. Reykjavık: Hið Islenzka Fornritafelag.

Jonas Kristjansson (ed.) 1956. Eyrfirðinga sogur. Vıga-Glums saga. Ogmundar þattr Dytts.

Þorvalds þattr Tasalda. Svarfdœla saga. Þorleifs þattr Jarlsskalds. Valla-Ljots saga. Sneglu-Halla þattr. Þorgrıms þattr Hallasonar. Islenzk Fornrit IX. Reykjavık: Hið IslenzkaFornritafelag.

Kunz, K. (trans.) 2000. The saga of the people of Laxardal. In The Sagas of the Icelanders: ASelection (eds J. Smiley and R. Kellogg). London: Penguin, pp. 270–421.

Palsson, H. and Edwards, P. (trans.) 1980. Gongu-Hrolf’s saga: A Viking Romance. Edinburgh:Canongate.

Palsson, H. and Edwards, P. (trans.) 1985. Seven Viking Romances. London: Penguin.

Þorhallur Vilmundarsson and Bjarni Vilhjalmsson 1991. Harðar saga. Barðar saga. Þorskfirðingasaga. Floamanna saga. Þorarins þattr Nefjolfssonar. Þorsteins þattr Uxafots. Egils þattr Sıðu-Hallssonar. Orms þattr Storolfssonar. Þorsteins þattr Tjaldstœðings. Þorsteins þattr Forvitna. Bergbuaþattr. Kumlbua þattr. Stjornu-Odda draumr. Islenzk Fornrit XIII. Reykjavık: Hið IslenzkaFornritafelag.

Scudder, B. (trans.) 2000. Egil’s saga. In The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection (eds J. Smiley and R.Kellogg). London: Penguin, pp. 1–184.

Sigurður Nordal (ed.) 1933. Egils saga Skalla-Grımssonar. Islenzk Fornrit II. Reykjavık: HiðIslenzka Fornritafelag.

Whaley, D. (ed.) 2002. Sagas of Warrior-Poets. London: Penguin.

Secondary sources

Arge, S. V. 2000. Vikings in the Faeroe Islands. In Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga (eds W. F.Fitzhugh and E. I. Ward). Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books in association with the NationalMuseum of Natural History, pp. 154–63.

Batey, C., Clarke, H., Page, R. I. and Price, N. S. (eds) 1994. Cultural Atlas of the Viking World.Oxford: Andromeda Oxford.

Callow, C. 2006. First steps towards an archaeology of children in Iceland. Archaeologia Islandica, 5:55–96.

Clover, C. 1988. The politics of scarcity: notes on the sex ratio in early Scandinavia. ScandinavianStudies, 60: 147–88.

Eldjarn, K. 2000. Kuml og Haugfe. Reykjavık: Mal og Menning.

Ellis, H. 1943. The Road to Hel: A Study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Foote, P. and Wilson, D. M. 1970. The Viking Achievement: The Society and Culture of EarlyMedieval Scandinavia. London: Book Club Associates.

Gardeła, L. 2011. Wiking bez głowy: dekapitacja we wczesnosredniowiecznej Skandynawii. PomnikiDawnego Prawa, 13: 36–69.

What the Vikings did for fun? 245

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Aus

tral

ian

Cat

holic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:19

10

Sept

embe

r 20

15

Gomułka, I. 2010. Zabawa odbiciem rzeczywistosci – łodki-zabawki z Gdanska i Opola jako

odzwierciedlenie lokalnego szkutnictwa sredniowiecznego. In _Zycie codzienne przez pryzmat rzeczy(eds. P. Kucypera and S. Wadyl). Torun: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu MikołajaKopernika, pp. 321–31.

Graslund, A-S. 1973. Barn i Birka. Tor, 15: 161–79.

Gunnell, T. 1995. The Origins of Drama in Scandinavia. Woodbridge: D. S. Brewer.

Gunnell, T. (ed.) 2007. Masks and Mumming in the Nordic Area. Uppsala: Kungl. Gustav AdolfsAkademien for svensk folkkultur.

Hammel van, A. G. 1934. The game of the gods. Arkiv for nordisk filologi, 50: 218–42.

Holmqvist, W. 1960. The dancing gods. Acta Archaeologica, 31: 101–27.

Jakobsson, A. 2003. Troublesome children in the Sagas of Icelanders. Saga Book of the VikingSociety, 27: 5–24.

Jakobsson, A. and Tulinius, T. (eds) 2005. Miðaldaborn. Reykjavık: Haskolautgafun.

Jensen, B. 2010. Viking Age Amulets in Scandinavia and Western Europe. Oxford: BAR InternationalSeries 2169.

Khoroshev, A. S. 2007. Toys and miniatures. In Wood Use in Medieval Novgorod (ed. M. Brisbane

and J. Hather). Oxford: Oxbow Books, pp. 344–53.

Kotowicz, P. N. 2008. Zabawka czy ore _z cwiczebny? Przyczynek do badan nad problematyka

drewnianych nasladownictw sredniowiecznych mieczy. In Nie tylko bron: Niemilitarne wyposa _zeniewojownikow w staro _zytnosci i sredniowieczu (ed. W. Swietosławski). Łodz: Łodzkie TowarzystwoNaukowe, pp. 89–98.

Kowalska, A. B. 2011. Archeologia o dzieciach w sredniowiecznym Szczecinie. In Ekskluzywne_zycie – dostojny pochowek: W kregu kultury elitarnej wiekow srednich (ed. M. Rebkowski). Wolin:

Drukarnia Artdeco Ewa Jachim, pp. 67–83.

Kurnatowska, Z. 2008. Poczatki i rozwoj panstwa. In Pradzieje Wielkopolski. Od epoki kamienia dosredniowiecza (ed. M. Kobusiewicz). Poznan: Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii Polskiej Akademii

Nauk Oddział w Poznaniu, pp. 297–395.

Lang, J. T. 1988. Viking Age Decorated Wood: A Study of its Ornament and Style. Dublin: Royal

Irish Academy.

Lerche Trolle, A. 1996. Life at Lindholm Høje. In Lindholm Høje: Burial Ground and Village (eds E.

Johansen and A. Lerche Trolle). Aalborg: Aalborg Historical Society and Aalborg HistoricalMuseum, pp. 79–87.

Łukaszyk, A. 2010. Steeds of the gods: early medieval miniature figures of horses. In Na

marginesie:. W kregu tematow pomijanych (In the Margin: Among the Omitted Topics) (eds L.Gardeła and Ł. Ciesielski). Poznan: Koło Naukowe Studentow Archeologii Instytut PrahistoriiUAM, pp. 263–74.

Montgomery, J. 2000. Ibn Fadl�an and the R�ussyyah. Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, 3: 1–25.

Odman, A. 1992. House and home. In From Viking to Crusader: The Scandinavians and Europe 800–1200 (eds E. Roesdahl and D. M. Wilson). Uddevalla: Bohuslaningens Boktryckeri AB, pp. 137–43.

Orme, N. 2001. Medieval Children. New Haven, CT, and London: Yale University Press.

Price, N. 2002. The Viking Way: Religion and War in Late Iron Age Scandinavia. Uppsala:Department of Archaeology and Ancient History.

Price, N. 2005. Sexualitat. In Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, 28. Berlin: De Gruyter,pp. 244–57.

246 Leszek Gardeła

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Aus

tral

ian

Cat

holic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:19

10

Sept

embe

r 20

15

Roesdahl, E. and Wilson, D. M. (eds) 1992. From Viking to Crusader: The Scandinavians and Europe

800–1200. Uddevalla: Bohuslaningens Boktryckeri AB.

Rundqvist, M. 2003. Barshalder 2: Studies of Late Iron Age Gotland. Stockholm: University of

Stockholm.

Rundqvist, M. and Williams, H. 2008. A Viking boat grave with amber gaming pieces excavated atSkamby, Ostergotland, Sweden. Medieval Archaeology, 52: 69–102.

Simek, R. 1993. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Woodbridge: D. S. Brewer.

Simpson, J. 1967. Everyday life in the Viking Age. London: Batsford.

Sofaer Derevenski, J. (ed.) 2000. Children and Material Culture. London and New York: Routledge.

Welinder, S. 1998. The cultural construction of childhood in Scandinavia, 3500 BC–1350 AD.Current Swedish Archaeology, 6: 185–204.

Wolf, K. 2004. Daily life of the Vikings. Westport, CT, and London: Greenwood Press.

Leszek Gardeła is a PhD student in the Department of Archaeology at the University of

Aberdeen. He specializes in the study of Viking and Slavic beliefs and their reflection in

archaeological remains. He has excavated prehistoric, early medieval and early modern

sites in Poland and Iceland and published a number of works on different subjects related

to Viking and Slavic archaeology.

What the Vikings did for fun? 247

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Aus

tral

ian

Cat

holic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:19

10

Sept

embe

r 20

15