Let’s talk about hólmgang, a very Viking way of settling scores. This is one the most evocative elements you can drop into an Age of Vikings game.
Honour and reputation were crucial to the Viking worldview. With strength and fighting prowess viewed as pinnacles of virtue, it is no surprise that for many it seemed the best way to resolve a dispute was by combat.
So, if you had two people with a grudge, instead of letting it turn into a blood feud that could last years and cost many lives, or waiting for the AlÞing, one might “skora a hólm”: that is challenge the other to a duel.
Anyone who felt wronged could challenge someone else, rich or poor, farmer or warrior. Maybe it was about honour, maybe about property, maybe an unpaid debt or a spoken insult. Hólmgang duels appear frequently in the sagas, often as pivotal moments of drama. Famous examples include Egil’s Saga, Skallagrímssonar and Kormák’s Saga, where hólmgangs decide honour, inheritance, and love. They are remembered not only for the blood spilled, but for the oaths, clever tricks, and moral questions they raised.
Once the challenge was thrown down, the duel would usually happen in three to seven days. If you were challenged and didn’t show up, that was as good as admitting you were in the wrong. If you were the one who made the challenge, and you didn’t turn up? Well, you’d be branded a coward, or niðingr, and could even be outlawed. Once a challenge had been accepted, showing up was everything, although it was possible to have a stronger friend step in and duel on behalf of a weaker person.
The word hólmgang literally translates as “island-going”. Sometimes duels really did happen on little islets, as described in Egil’s Saga, but not everywhere had a convenient islet so sometimes an arena was designated as the hólmgangustadr instead.
The setup:
- Duels had rules, the hólmgangulog, which could vary at different times and places so both sides agreed on them beforehand.
- The fight took place in an hólmgangustadr, either an actual islet or a marked patch of ground, smaller than a modern wrestling ring. In Kormák’s Saga, they describe drawing borders around an ox-hide with hazel rods. Like with Sumo wrestling, stepping out of the arena meant instant defeat.
- The hólmgangustadr was blessed by a spell recited while the caster was bent at the waist, looking back between his legs while holding onto his ears. This spell was also recited during the sacrifice of an Ox after the duel which was called tiösnublót.
- Duellists would usually use swords, which were shorter than a normal war sword. Experienced hólmgangumenn carried two swords with them, one in hand and another hanging from a thong as backup. Each duellist would have a shield, and a second or shield-bearer who carried two spares as shields broke quickly, and once they were gone, things got dicey.
- The duellists would take turns to make a single swing, with the challenger striking first. The other defended using a shield or, if all their shields were broken, parried with their sword, then they swapped roles, and it was the defender’s turn to take his swing. No counterattack was permitted. In the sagas the duels were sometimes paused for swords to be straightened after they bent.
Killing someone in a hólmgang wasn’t considered murder: if the defender was killed their family could only claim half the usual weregeld; if the challenger was killed the defender would pay nothing and would claim all the challenger’s property and possessions. If the duel ended with both parties still alive the prize might be limited to three ells of silver unless terms had been agreed before the duel.
Not everyone played fair. Some professional duellists turned hólmgang into a racket. They’d challenge people to duels over property or land and use the fight as legalized theft. Berserkers especially loved this trick, which made hólmgang less about settling disputes and more about bullying – this is one of the reasons berserkers were considered dishonourable.
Unsurprisingly, this system didn’t last forever. After the infamous duel between Gunnlaugr Serpent-Tongue and Hrafn in 1006, Iceland banned the hólmgang altogether.
Hólmgang in your Age of Vikings Game
With a bit of thought such a duel can be more than a simple weapons clash but something much more dramatic and a springboard for bigger adventures, here are some suggestions for making the most of hólmgang.Make the Duel Part of a Wider Conflict
Tie the hólmgang into the wider story, have it motivated by character, politics, or fate. The duel may settle a skirmish, but a defeated combatant’s kin might later return with vengeance. The challenge might be part of a campaign to strip a person of their land and wealth whether justly or unjustly. The challenged party might be a farmer with no fighting experience who asks the heroes to help, or a woman with small children whose husband is away at sea making her unwilling to fight. There should always be legal or social stakes: hólmgang was legally recognised. Winning (or losing) affects land rights, fines, or one’s status in the community. One of the combatants might have supernatural patronage: perhaps one party is backed (secretly) by a seiðkona, a spirit, or a Norn. The duel then becomes a clash of mortal and otherworldly will. By anchoring the duel in something bigger, it becomes more than “just a fight” it becomes a turning point.
Let the “Loser” Win Something
In sagas, even the defeated often gain something: respect, mercy, wealth, or fate-altering knowledge. The prize might be the demand to complete a quest or fulfil some oath. Perhaps they lose the fight but as they fall, they see a vision or a ghost that guides future actions. By giving the “loser” narrative leverage, you avoid making the duel simply another fight.
Aftershocks & Ripples
There would be witnesses who observed the fight. They may spread rumours, interpret signs, or carry stories. This could impact alliances; trade routes may shift depending on who wins. There could be spiritual consequences, favouring the victor or punishing hubris, the duel might have lasting effects in terms of scars, wounds, guilt, fear, or reputation that change how the combatants and their companions behave going forward.
Example: A Duel of Frost & Bone
There is an island where it is said a magical spring grants long life. Two local goði (chieftains) agree to duel for its possession at the spring’s edge. Before the fight, one carves runes into stone, calling to their gods to give them the victory. During the duel, a storm rises; waves lick at the rock, the goði who carved the runes stands fast, the other loses his footing. As the loser falls, he utters a rune-curse that causes the spring to dry up. The victor may have won, but now must not only fend off other potential challengers but also deal with the curse.
Hólmgang duels can be more than just a dramatic moment. Use them to test oaths, shift alliances, reveal hidden motives, and set in motion future conflicts. Weave them into the bigger story and make sure the echoes ripple long after the blades rest.
