Holmgang
The Holmgang was the usual solution for disputes in the Germanic culture in the Nordic Iron Age, the Vendel Age and the Viking Age (800-1050 AD) and beyond.
regulate
There were detailed rules for the Holmgang. If the duel took place near the coast, you chose a small (uninhabited) island or an archipelago (see also: Holm ) . In the interior of the country they went to a remote place. With Christianization , the Holmgang was banned, first in Iceland , later in Norway .
„Það voru hólmgöngulög að fieldur shall be vera fimm alna í skaut and lykkjur í hornum. Skyldi þar setja niður hæla þá er Höfuð var á öðrum enda. Það hétu tjösnur. Sá er um bjó skyldi ganga að tjösnunum svo að sæi himin milli fóta sér og héldi í eyrasnepla með þeim formála sem síðan er eftir hafður í blóti því að kallað er tjösnublót. Þrír reitar skulu umhverfis feldinn, fets breiðir. Út frá reitum skulu vera strengir fjórir og heita það höslur. Það er totally haslaður er svo er gert. Maður shall hafa þrjá skjöldu en he þeir eru farnir þá shall ganga á field þó að áður hafi af hörfað. Þá shall hlífast með from þaðan frá. Sá shall höggva he á he skorað. Ef annar verður sár svo að blóð komi á field er eigi skylt að berjast lengur. Ef maður stígur öðrum fæti út um höslur fer hann á hæl en rennur ef báðum stígur. Sinn maður shall halda skildi fyrir before it bursts. Sá shall gjalda hólmlausn er meir verður sár, þrjár merkur silfurs í hólmlausn. "
“That was the law of the Holmgang: The fighting carpet should be five cubits long, with loops at the four corners. Posts with a head end, called 'Tjösnur', were to be driven into these. Whoever did this should go to the stakes so that he could see the sky between his feet, hold his earlobe and mumble the saying that was later said by the so-called 'Tjösnuropfer'. Three quarters should be drawn around the rug, each a foot wide. Four poles should be placed on the edges of this square. They were called the 'hazelnuts'. Once this was done, the battlefield was ' hooked '. Each man received three shields. If they were cut to pieces, he should step on the fighting carpet again, if he had left it before, and now defend himself with his weapons alone. The demanded fought first. If someone was wounded so that blood flowed onto the carpet, then one was not allowed to continue fighting. If someone set foot outside the hazel, then it was said: 'He is giving way,' he stepped over them with both: 'He has fled.' In front of each of the fighters, their partner should hold the shield. The one who was most wounded had to pay three silver marks in order to solve his life . "
procedure
The gaze bent forward between the legs at the sky was a magical ritual. It granted a view into the “other world” and is mentioned more often. In this way the gods should be made to watch over the battle. The word "Tjösna" for the stake is also interpreted as a phallus.
However, the rules are not passed down in the same way everywhere. In the Gunnlaugr Ormstungas saga , both the loss of the weapon and an injury without blood flowing on the ground are referred to as defeat, which in the story led to a tie because one broke the sword on the hilt and the other broke off the broken cutting edge on the cheek was slightly injured. It is said to have been the last Holmgang in Iceland, because the next day on the Althing the ban on the Holmgang was supposed to have been decided, so that the opponents had to move to Norway. There they fought beyond the wound until both were fatally injured. In addition, not only the opponents fought there, but also their companions. Several sagas also tell of predatory berserkers who invaded farms and demanded money and the women of the house, and if they refused, asked the farmer to walk through the Holm. It can be doubted that these duels were always accompanied by rituals.
See also
literature
- Britt-Mari Näsström: Bärsärkarna. Vikingatiden's elite soldiers. Norstedt, Stockholm 2006, ISBN 91-1-301511-7 .
- Felix Niedner (ex.): Four skald stories. Diederichs, Jena 1914 ( Thule 9, ZDB -ID 516164-2 ), (new edition. Ibid. 1964).