hólmganga
nafnorðkvenkynhólm-ganga
u, ‘holm-gang, holm-going,’ a duel or wager of battle fought on an islet or ‘holm,’ which with the ancients was a kind of last appeal or ordeal; and wherever a Thing (parliament) was held, a place was appointed for the wager of battle, as the holm in the Axe River in the alþingi. The hólmganga differed from the plain einvígi or duel, as being accompanied by rites and governed by rules, whilst the latter was not,—þvíat á hólmgöngu er vandhæfi en alls eigi á einvígi, 84. The ancient Sagas abound in wagers of battle, chiefly the S. 10 and passim: some champions were nicknamed from the custom, Hólmgöngu-Bersi ( S.), Hólmgöngu-Starri, Hólmgöngu-Máni, Hólmgöngu-Hrafn, About 1006 (see Tímatal), the hólmganga was abolished by law in the parliament, on account of the unhappy feud between Gunnlaug Snake-tongue and Skald-Hrafn, Gunnl. S. 11, 5 (þá vóru af tekin hólmgöngu-lög öll ok hólmgöngur), referring to about 1010; a single instance however of a challenge in the north of is recorded after this date (about the year 1030–1040), but it was not accepted ( S. 30); the wager in 17 was previous (though only by a few years) to the fight between Gunnlaug and Rafn. It is curious that Jón Egilsson, in his Lives of Bishops (written about 1600, Bisk. 36, i. 64), mentions a wager of battle between the parties of the two bishops, Jón Arason and Ögmund, on the old holm in the Axe River 1529; but the whole is evidently a mere reproduction of the tale of the Horatii in Livy. Maurer thinks that the two important acts of legislation, the institution of the Fifth Court in 1004 and the abolition of the ordeal of hólmganga a few years later, are closely connected, as the institution of the new court of appeal made the decision by battle superfluous. In Norway, if we are to believe S. 21 (þá tók Eirekr af allar hólmgöngur í Noregi), the hólmgöngur were abolished about the year 1012. It is very likely that the tournaments of the Norman age, fought in lists between two sets of champions, sprang from the heathen hólmganga, though this was always a single combat. For separate cases see the Sagas, S. , Gunnl. S. , 57, 67, 24, 60, 2. 13, 3. 7, 1, 19, init., 4, , 10. A curious kind of duel in a tub is recorded in 17, called kerganga, perhaps akin to the fight in a belt. For England see Sir Edmund Head’s interesting notes to
Skammstafanir og tilvitnanir
- f.kvenkyn (e. feminine)
- Icel.Iceland, Icelander, Icelanders, Icelandic.
- ch.chapter.
- e. g.exempli gratia.
- A. D.Anno Domini.
- cp.compare.
- l. c.loco citato.
- mod.modern.
- Swed.Swedish.
- COMPDSsamsett orð (e. compounds)
- Korm.Kormaks saga. (D. II.)
- Landn.Landnáma. (D. I.)
- Valla L.Valla Ljóts saga. (D. II.)
- Lv.Ljósvetninga saga. (D. II.)
- Ann.Íslenzkir Annálar. (D. IV.)
- SafnSafn til Sögu Islands.
- Grett.Grettis saga. (D. II.)
- Eg.Egils saga. (D. II.)
- Nj.Njála. (D. II.)
- Rd.Reykdæla saga. (D. II.)
- Gísl.Gísla saga. (D. II.)
- Glúm.Víga-Glúms saga. (D. II.)
- Hallfr. S.Hallfreðar saga. (D. II.)
- Flóam. S.Flóamanna saga. (E. I.)