Game boards and playing pieces are common finds in grave goods.The game boards that have been found have playing surfaces rangingfrom 7x7 squares (right) up to 19x19squares. Playing pieces have been found made from a wide varietyof material: glass; bone (left); antler; amber;bronze; and wood. It'sunclear whether dice (left), which are also found, are a part of this board game, or, more likely, a differentgame.

Oneboard game was called hnefatafl. Carvings on memorial stones (left) show people playing board games. We don't know the rules,but it appears to have been a strategy game in which a king andhis retainers opposed an army. Interestingly, the game is uneven; the player controlling the king (purple) hasonly a small number of playing pieces (blue) to protect the king fromthe larger number of playing pieces controlled by his opponent (red). The suggested starting position of the game is shown to the right.

(Download your own henfatafl playing board and set of instructions from the Hurstwic library here. Print it on 8½x11 inch paper, and play with pennies, nickels, and dimes, or equivalent.)

The hnefatafl set found in a grave at Baldursheimur in north Iceland contained: 12 red 'pawns', 12 white 'pawns'; one 'king'; and one die. The pawns were made from the teeth of a marine mammal (perhaps whale or walrus), and the king, made from whalebone, shows the figure of a crouching man, gripping his forked beard.

It has been suggested that the iconic bronze figure found at Eyrarland in north Iceland is a playing piece for a board game, rather than an idol. Like the playing piece from Baldursheimur, it shows a seated male figure holding his beard.

Modern replicas of hnefatafl kings are shown to the left, carved from wood.

It is possible that Viking people learned Shatranj, an early form of chess, through their trading contacts in Constantinople. It seems likely that chess arrived in Scandinavia before the end of the Viking age. Chapter 12 of Króka-Refs saga says that Bárðr brought gifts with him from Greenland when he visited the king of Norway. He gave the king an ivory board game as a gift, and the board was both a hneftafl (for the Viking board game) and skáktafl (for chess). Perhaps it was laid out for a chess-like game on one side and for hnefatafl on the other. In chapter 22 of Víglundar saga, Víglundur and Örn played an unspecified board game that ended in mate (mát), suggesting the game was chess.

The carved walrus-ivory game pieces found on the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides (right) have long been interpreted as chess pieces made in Norway in the last half of the 12^th century, when Lewis was under the rule of the king of Norway. Since a number of identical pieces were found, and since some pieces seemed to be unfinished, it was assumed that they were merchandise: multiple sets offered for sale by the merchant-smith who made the pieces and who lost them or buried them while visiting Lewis.

More recent analysis suggests that the pieces were made by as many as five different smiths. Additionally, the reported location of the find on Lewis in the 19^th century has been called into question. Perhaps the pieces belonged to the chieftain who lived on Lewis. The pieces might have been used for chess, for hnefatafl, or perhaps for some other similar board game.

Skill atplaying board games apparently was held in some esteem. In Morkinskinna (chapter 71), King Eysteinn and King Sigurðr compared their accomplishments. Sigurðrclaimed he was stronger and a better swimmer. Eysteinn countered, 'That istrue, but I am more skilled and better at board games, and that is worth as muchas your strength.'

Themythological poem Völuspá says that the gods, too, once played boardgames in the meadow, during the golden age of the gods. The poem predicts thatafter Ragnorök, good fortune will return, beginning with finding the goldenplaying pieces once again in the meadow.

The swimming competitions might be more accurately calleddrowning competitions; the goal was to see who could hold his opponentunderwater the longest. Chapter 40 of Laxdæla sagatells of a match between Kjartan Ólafsson and King ÓlafurTryggvason.

Chapter15 of Gísla saga Súrssonarhas a brief description of the game. It appears to have been a full contactsport, in which people were physically held back and tackled whilethe ball was in play. Chapter 15 of Grettis saga says that ball gameswere played every autumn at Miðfjarðarvatn (shown to the right as it lookstoday). The saga describesopposing players lined up facing one another. Individual playerson opposing sides were matched based on strength. In one case, exceptionally strong players played only against one another, for the sake of fairness (Eyrbyggja saga chapter 43). Chapter 40 of Egils sagaSkalla-Grímssonar says that players were divided intoteams, but opposing players were paired up. At one point, a player caught theball and ran with it while opposing players chased him.

In this, as in all the games, disputes between players could turnbloody. As the game progressed in chapter 15 of Grettis saga, Auðun hit the ball over Grettir's head so that he couldn't catchit. Grettir lost his temper, thinking that Auðun had done thisto make fun of him. Grettir fetched the ball over the ice, andwhen he returned, he hurled the ball at Auðun's forehead,making him bleed. Auðun struck at Grettir with his bat, butGrettir dodged the blow. They grappled and started wrestling.Grettir lost his balance and went down, and Auðun kneed himin the groin. At this point, many stepped forward to stop thefight. The incident was not permitted to develop into a quarrel,but nonetheless, a bloody feud ultimately developed.

Wrestling (glíma) was a contest of strength. The goal of the competition was to throw the opponent to the ground. There was generally no ground fighting afterwards in sport wrestling. A win was recorded if the opponentwas thrown off his feet, or lifted clear and then dropped ontoany body part except the feet.

The stories suggest that some wrestling matches took place indoors. In chapter 37 of Finnboga saga ramma and in chapter 1 of Gunnars saga Keldugnúpsfífls, the games took place in the house. Gunnar lifted his opponent up and threw him onto the raised bench in the main room of the house, breaking his spine.

The sagas describe some grappling moves and throws in sufficient detail as to be able to replicate them today. The throw used by Refur in Króka-Refs saga (ch.5) is shown to the left, and the throw used by Klaufi in Svarfdæla saga (ch.12) is shown to the right.

At the annual Alþing assembly, men wrestled for sport at Fangabrekka (Wrestling Slope), to the north of Lögberg and the other areas where legal matters were discussed. The photo to the right shows Fangabrekka as it appears today.

Some wrestling matches appear to have been duel-like and were fought to the death. The wrestling field contained a fanghella, aflat stone set on end, on which an opponent's back could be broken. Chapter 15 of Kjalnesinga saga tells of a wrestling match in Norway attended by the king. Over his shirt, Búi put on a wrestling jacket (fangastakkur) that helped protect him from broken bones. As his opponent forced him back on to the stone, Búi jumped backwards over it, and he pulled the man down onto the stone. Búi jumped onto his back, breaking his ribs on the stone and killing him.

Gunnars saga Keldugnúpsfífls (ch. 7) tells a similar story, in which Gunnar pulled his opponent forward across the stone, splitting him open. A speculative reconstruction of this move (right) is shown in this combat demo video, part of a longer fight.

Weight lifting competitions used stones. The person who could lift the heaviest boulderwas the winner.

Some saga heroes were celebrated for their strength and their ability to lift huge stones, notably Grettir Ásmundarson. Some of the stones he lifted can still be seen on the Icelandic landscape today, and his legacy lives on in the term Grettistak used to describe a glacial erratic: a huge stone moved by a glacier.

Another competition of strength was toga hönk (tug-of-war). The name literally means tugging on a loop, or a hank. The sagas are silent on the details, but it is thought that two men sat on the floor or the ground, knees bent, with the soles of their feet pressed flat on the soles of their opponents feet. They pulled on a loop of rope, which may have been marked in the middle with a tag, or with a bit of rope. By pulling on the loop with the arms and straightening the legs, it is possible to pull an opponent over, winning the competition. A modern toga hönk competition is shown to the right, as played during Hurstwic Viking combat training.

The competition uses movements and muscle groups similar to those used in rowing a ship. Perhaps the game was also a way to sort out who might be a capable rower and thus a desirable candidate for the crew of a ship.

The game is not described in any detail in the sagas since it usually shows up in dreams, such as in chapter 24 of Flóamanna saga. Þorgils dreamed he was in a tug-of-war with Ásgrímr at a þing meeting. Þorleifr interpreted the dream to mean that Þorgils would be involved in a legal battle with Ásgrímr.

(The sketch to the left shows another interpretation, an incident in which the king of Denmark played single-handedly against eight competitors.)

Inhorse fights, two stallions were goaded to fight against eachother until one of them was killed or ran away. To further incite the stallions,mares were tethered at the edge of the grounds, within sight and smell of thestallions. Chapter 23 ofReykdæla saga og Viga-Skútu describes howthe horses were goaded. Eyjólf's stallion got a grip onthe upper jaw of Bjarni's stallion and held on until Bjarni came up and knocked the stallion loose with his staff.

Chapter 29 of Grettis sagatells of a horse fight at Langafit. (The location of the fight is not known, but was probably on the banks of the Miðfjarðará close to where the photo to the left was taken.) Thestory describes Grettir holding his stallion back by the tail during a fight whilegoading him with a stick. His opponent, Oddur, jabbed at Grettir with his stickduring the horse fight. Later, Grettir jabbed Oddur so hard that Oddur and hishorse fell into the river.

Chapter 59 of Brennu-Njáls saga says that Þorgeirand Kolur threw their weight against their horse's rump when he charged (right), hopingto knock down Gunnar, who was goading the other horse. But Gunnar pushed back onhis horse, and Þorgeir and Kolur ended up on the ground with their horse on topof them.

A varietyof carved wooden children's toys from the period have been found, includingdolls, horses, ships, and other figures. Child sized wooden weapons have alsobeen found. The photo to the left shows a two-year-old playing with a modernreplica.

Other toys are mentioned in the sagas. In chapter 12 of Víga-Glúms saga,a six year old boy gave his bronze toy horse to a four year old, saying itsuited the younger child better.

Childrenplayed with soft felt balls (right). The balls were made (left) by taking ahandful of wool fibers, wetting them, and then squeezing them into a round ballby rolling between the hands. Repeatedly, loose fibers were pulled out and aroundthe ball, and the rolling and squeezing process continued. Eventually, one endedup with a tightly matted wool felt, which was tied with yarn to prevent it fromfalling apart during play.

I'm surprised at how satisfactory a ball one can make using thistechnique. The ball rolls well, bounces well, and has enough of a heft fora good game of catch.

Iceskates made from bone are common finds and were probably used not only as toys,but also as a useful means to travel across the ice. The bones, usually themetatarsal bones of horses or cattle, were tied to the bottom of the feet usingleather thongs (right). Skaters used wooden poles tipped with iron spikes to help propelthemselves across the ice. The bottoms of the skates were made flat and smoothto permit the skater to glide across the ice. Since the skates lacked any kindof edge to cut the ice, skating techniques must have been very different thanwith modern skates. An ice skating page describesour attempts to make and use bone ice skates.

In the stories, the Icelandic family sagas do not seem to mention ice skatinganywhere. That's surprising, since bone ice skates were known and used in Iceland from medieval times into the 20^th century. A pair of skates used in rural Iceland in the 20^th century is shown to the left.

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