As you will learn in the article below, a genuine holmgang did not look like this. Photo credit: Emily Chesley.

We have discussed the importance of the judicial duel in Viking society as a method of limiting violence in a community with no police protection. And we have looked at the preparations, including the laying out of a limited fighting space marked by a barrier, outside of which the participants might not step, and into which the onlookers dared not trespass.

If one participant failed to show up for the duel, he naturally lost his honor. This meant more than a loss of reputation. A man without honor — a niðing — lost important legal rights.

Before the fight started, it was the obligation of the challenger to recite the rules of the duel. Although there were generalized rules for a holmgang, the duelists might make special rules for this particular engagement, if both agreed. The summary that follows comes from the best information we have concerning the customary procedures.

In most cases, the weapon for the duel was the sword. Although we often say in our lectures that most Vikings didn’t own swords, it appears there was a specialized sword that was used specifically for the holmgang. It seems to have been shorter than a war sword, suitable to a small fighting space. Perhaps such swords were kept by the priest/chieftain precisely for such use, but that’s only a guess on my part.

Each combatant also was allotted (in most cases) three shields. He would have a shield bearer, or second, to hold the shields for him, and pass one to him quickly when he needed it (it also appears the second sometimes actually used the shield he was holding to protect his friend).

The challenged party had the right to strike the first blow. After he struck, the challenger had his turn. There seems to have been very little, if any, strategy in this kind of fight. There was not much room to move around in the roped-off space, and small opportunity for clever parries and blows. It was one man and then the other, back and forth by turns, chopping away at each others’ shields, demolishing them one by one.

There was considerable value in delivering strong blows to smash your enemy’s shields quickly. Once his three shields were used up, his options were even more limited than before. He was required to keep his feet on the cloak that marked the central fighting space, which essentially meant he couldn’t move at all. He had to protect himself by parrying with the flat of his sword (it appears that sometimes combatants would carry a second sword for this purpose, suspended by a thong from their wrists).

In most cases (in the fully developed, later form of the holmgang) the first combatant to bleed, if only a drop, lost the fight.

The loser of the fight, if he was still alive, paid a set forfeit (customarily three marks of silver). If he was killed, we are told, the winner got all his possessions; but it appears the rules of the holmgang were designed to prevent this (the rise of a class of “professional” duelists, who made fortunes fighting for other men’s farms and killing them, was a major reason for the eventual abolition of the custom).

But in the pure, traditional holmgang, the loser paid a reasonable penalty, but gained the honor of being known as a man who was willing to face steel and risk his life for his honor. To a certain degree, his reputation was actually enhanced.

And most importantly for the community, this was a point where a strong period could be placed to mark the end of a dispute. Everyone had acted with honor. There was no reason for anyone to feel shamed, and no reason for kinsfolk to seek vengeance. The matter, it was hoped, was ended, and life could go on.