Viking Fighting Moves from the Sagas: 4

A speculative reconstruction of one-on-one Viking combat based on fighting moves described in the Sagas of Icelanders, including: ---throwing stones during a fight: Kjalnesinga saga, ch. 11 Búi varðist drengilega. Lét hann ganga grjót í fyrstu. Var það jafnsnemma að fallnir voru fjórir menn af þeim bræðrum enda hafði Búi þá lokið grjótinu. Búi defended himself manfully. At first he let fly with stones. By the time he had used up his stones, four of the attackers were dead. ---a foolish man attacks strongly but becomes timid under a strong counter-attack: Grettis saga, ch. 59 Gretti leiddist nú þófið og sveipaði til saxinu og hjó annan fylgdarmann Gísla banahögg og hljóp nú frá steininum og sótti svo fast að Gísli hrökk fyrir allt út með fjallinu. Grettir grew bored of the irksome fight then. He swung his sax (short-sword) and dealt one of Gísli’s companions his death blow, then leapt out from behind the stone and attacked so furiously that Gísli was driven back along the side of the mountain. ---cleave a man to the shoulders: Hávarðar saga Ísfirðings, ch. 10 Hann hljóp að með reidda öxina og hjó í höfuð Brandi og klauf hann í herðar niður. He ran at Brandur with a raised axe and struck him in the head and split it down to his shoulders. More information at: Comments and discussion at: