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 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.
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