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20 • Touchline • Issue 15
hile the Scandinavian of today has a reputation
as being Volvo-reliable, it is a very different
story for their forebears, the Vikings.
These raiders looted and pillaged their way through Dark Aged
Europe, their reputation for carnage so utterly deserved that they
have become synonymous with terror.
It should come as no surprise that when they decided to relax,
their sporting past times involved feats of drinking and strength,
with healthy doses of violence and male swagger thrown in.
While the material evidence is scanty, we have many accounts
in their traditional sagas -long poetic stories- of Viking men
playing games and sport. Most often, the punch line involved one
PLAYING HARD:
VIKING SPORTS
W
BY TIMOTHY MOTTRAM
Vikings fighting (part of a festival)