The Way of the Vikings

by Lars Magnar Enoksen

Introduction

I am writing this article because there is definitely a need for laying out the facts concerning the Vikings and what kind of Martial Arts they mastered and trained. Over the years I have noticed that a lot of misinterpretations and wrong information flourishes in the Martial Arts community all over the World, mostly outside the Nordic countries - but sadly to say, false facts can also be found in Scandinavia.

Many people have asked me to write a short text in English so that even people that lives outside Scandinavia can learn something of the Way of the Vikings. And so, here it is - the history of the Viking warriors and the Martial Arts that the trained.

Historical background

In the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland) we call a certain historical period that spanned between the years 750-1100 A.D. - the Viking Age, because that was the age of the Viking achievement. Over a time period of more than 300 years the Vikings of the North became known in many parts of Europe, Asia, Africa - and even in North America as fearsome warriors that seamed to be unstoppable in every kinds of warfare. The Vikings behaved like kings all over the World and did never recognise any foreign power to rule over them.

The Martial Arts of the Vikings

Since the age of the Vikings became history, it has been debated by the scholars, what gave the Vikings such a good self-confidence that they had no problem to adapt to different styles of warfare or other fighting-styles that they met on their travels. How come the Vikings never felt insecure of their Martial Arts skills or never tough that their enemies were unbeatable? The answer can be found in the way that they trained, that is - both with and without weapons.

The need for a good Martial Arts schooling

The Viking community was ruled by the sword and you had little to say if you could not protect your rights with a weapon in your hand. In their society the family and the kindred was the most important thing - even more important than the man himself. If a relative was killed, his family or kindred was supposed to revenge his death by killing a member of the killer´s family. This was called "blood-revenge".

If you had a dispute, it did not matter if it was a minor or a major one, you could always settle it by challenging the opponent to a duel. The outcome of the duel decided who had won the dispute. This was the common way to solve a dispute in the Viking Age and this was also what the Law recommended if two persons or families was of different opinions. As one can see - the males had an utmost need for a good Martial Arts schooling, or otherwise they were an easy target for any person who wanted to gain from their losses.

How to foster the taste for fighting

It was a matter of life and death that made the Northmen train their Martial Arts skills at an early age. When winter came and the snow fell down, the children and the youngsters made snow-castles and played the game of "snow-ball-war" - which was the training ground for stone-throwing at war or to learn how to attack and run down a besieged castle and not be afraid to get hurt in a fight. In the Nordic countries we still practice this game and both children and grown ups loves it. In this game of "snow-ball-war" there still is a remnant from the Viking Age when the warriors showed their bravery in the battlefield by degrading the enemy, which is done by mashing snow in the face the opponent until he becomes red in his face - which actually means that you have killed him.

The attitude

The Vikings had their special way of viewing how a warrior should behave in combat to be known as a valiant fighter. The Danish king Skjold (Shield) was said to have given them the Law that said that every warrior that wanted to have a reputation for his bravery - should always go to the attack against one, stand on his ground against two, he was allowed to move his foot against three and could without shame flee from four.
As you see, a Viking was supposed to be able to at least take care of three enemies in single combat if he wanted to be known for his bravery. But it is also interesting to notice that the warriors of the North had a special fighting attitude - that a Viking always should be able to hold his ground and never go backwards in a fight. As an interesting parallel - in the Viking Age duels you lose the fight if you step outside the fighting area (or is the first one to drip blood on the ground).

To be able to stand steadily and self-confident on the fighting field the Vikings had a special way of training this attitude. When two Vikings trained their weapon skills, they each stands on a square that was only one "aln" (ell) or circa 60 centimetres on each side and the fighters was not allowed to move outside this square when they face to face were exchanging blows with their swords or axes and protected themselves with shield or shield-buckles.
The philosophy of Viking-wrestling.

But you can not always meet force by force, sometimes you have to evade or sidestep an enemy attack before you can have the advantage. The Vikings had their own way of training their intuition that made them able to adapt to any kind of fighting-style - and they did foster this skill by developing a special Martial Art called "Glíma".

In Glíma the Vikings believed that they had invented a perfect training ground to foster courage, endurance, strength and valiantly behaviour. This style of Viking-wrestling (Glíma) is still one of the best ways to train your fighting-spirit and to get a good feeling for when it is the right moment to go to the attack. It also teaches the art of evading, so that you always can use your opponents attack to your own advantage. But even more, it teaches you that a victory over an inferior opponent means nothing and gives you no honour. But if you can conquer a stronger opponent - then all glory is yours.
A short introduction to what Glíma is all about.

If you are engaged in a Glíma-fight, you must have the courage to stand face to face against your opponent and accept the fact that you never know what the outcome of the fight will be. The only thing you know for sure, is that the person who seizes the opportunity will be victorious.

The Glíma-fighters always wrestle from an upright position of proud posture. (The upright position also enables you to do almost the same techniques with weapons in hand.) It is considered as cowardly behaviour if a wrestler stands still with his back bent, his feet wide apart and the seat out. This is one of the reasons that Glíma-wrestler is not allowed to stand still, both fighters must be in constant movement. To make the fighters wrestle at the same conditions, they each have the same grip to start with and it is not allowed to change this grip in the fight. The upright position and the constant movement with the feet also equalizes an advantage of strength and makes the opponent more open for an attack. But of course it also makes yourself equally vulnerable for an attack.
A Glíma-fight is very strenuous because you have to be on the alert all the time. If you let go of your concentration for a fraction of a second - you will quickly find yourself laying on the ground. In Glíma you have to be relaxed in your body if you want to surprise your opponent and throw him to the ground. It also saves your strength and makes it more easy to evade your opponents attack. In other words - you would have the best advantage in becoming a good Glíma-wrestler if you are able to stay cool (and have a relaxed body and an alert intuitive mind) in the heat of the fight.

Where to find Glíma-instructors

Because of its complexity and intricate technique it would be impossible to try to explain the different tricks and throws that you can expect to find in a Glíma-fight, but you can say that it looks a lot like Judo (- with the important difference that Glíma is a thousand years older than Judo). If you like to test Glíma, or even learn it - you have to hurry up, because there are not so many people who still knows the Martial Art of the Vikings. You will find the best instructors on Iceland - because there they have an unbroken tradition of Glíma-wrestling since the Viking Age, but there is also a few good Glíma-wrestlers that can be found in south of Scandinavia that can give you the basics of this old style of Viking-wrestling. If you are interested - do not hesitate to contact me at my e-mail address.

Some word of advice

As a final word of advice I must say that Glíma is a very difficult Art to learn and master. Some people train their whole life but never really understands the principles of Glíma. You must also be able to take a lot of heavy falls when you are thrown to the ground with the speed of a Glíma- technique. And I would be telling you a lie if I said that there can not be any injuries in a Glíma-fight…
But if you would like to test and try out the Martial Art that fostered the Viking warriors - you still have a theoretical chance to do it before it becomes one of the many extinct Martial Arts that can be found in the annals of history.

Sincerely: Lars Magnar Enoksen - Scandinavian Chief Instructor of Glíma. Author of several books concerning the Viking Age history - mostly about the Runes and Norse Mythology.