“What kind of duel dost thou wish us to have,” asked Ketil of Ivar, “the Holmganga or the Einvigi? Thou art the challenged man, and thou has the right to choose which of the two thou wilt have.”
Ivar answered: “I choose the Holmganga, for there is more honor and fame in this than in the other; and when I left Gotland for Upsalir, to participate in the games, it was to win more fame than I had before. There are two alternatives before me: the one, to get bravely the victory in fighting against thee; the other, to fall with valor; and that is better than to live with shame and dishonor.”
“But,” said Ketil, “why dost thou choose the Holmganga instead of the Einvingi? Thou art young and inexperienced, and in the Holmganga there are difficult rules, but none in the Einvingi.”
Ivar answered: “I shall not fight better in the Einvigi, and I will risk the Holmganga, and in all be on equal footing with thee. Though much younger than thyself, and of less experience, I am not afraid of the Holmganga rules. I have handled the sword many a time, though I have never done so in a duel. My foster-father taught me well its use, and the rules of dueling also.”
Then the laws of the Holmganga were recited by Sigurd, this being obligatory before a duel took place.
“This is,” said he, “the Holmganga law: The cloak must be ten feet from one end to the other, with loops in the corners, and in these pegs must be put down. The one who makes the preparations must go towards the pegs, hold his earlobes, and, bending over, stand with his feet apart, seeing the sky between them. Three squares each one foot wide, must be marked around the cloak. Outside the squares must be placed four poles, called hazel poles. The place is called a hazelled field when it is prepared thus. Each man must have three shields, and when these are made useless he must stand upon the cloak, and thereafter defend himself with his weapons. He who has been challenged is to strike first. If one is wounded so that the blood falls upon the cloak, he is not obliged to fight any longer. If either steps with one of his feet outside the boundary, it is held that he has retreated; and if he steps outside with both feet, he is held to have fled, and is accounted vanquished.
“Have you, Ketil and Ivar, taken heed of the Holmganga law which I have just recited to you?” asked Sigurd in conclusion.
“Thou hast recited well and correctly the laws of the Holmganga, Sigurd,” replied Ivar.
As customary in the Holmganga, one man held the shield before each of the combatants. The one who received most wounds was to pay an indemnity for being released from the fight, for it was the law of the Holmganga that if he who challenged another man, in order to get something, gained the victory, he should have the prize for which he had challenged; if he was defeated, he should release himself with as much property as had been agreed upon; if he fell, he should forfeit all his property, and he who killed him was to take all the inheritance.
It was the custom of duelists not to draw their swords on the place of the Holmganga, but let the sword hang on the arm, so that it should be ready at once, when wanted. At the outset Ketil said to Ivar: “It seems to me that the sword that thou carries is longer than the laws of the Holmganga allow.”
“Thou canst measure my sword,” replied Ivar, “and thou wilt find that it is of the proper length, and according to the regulation.”
Then Ivar said to Hjalmar: “Foster-brother, thou must hold the shield before me.”
Hjalmar replied: “I have done that for no one before, my beloved foster-brother. Rather ask me to go into Holmganga against Ketil, for I am afraid thou risketh too much. I do not want to part from thee, and hope the Nornir have fated us to die the same day.”
Ivar thanked his foster-brother, but said that what he asked could not be granted.
Hjalmar answered: “In case of the death, none of us would go back unless thou art avenged, for we foster-brothers have sworn to avenge each other’s death.”
Then he advanced towards Ivar, and took the three shields that he was to hold before him, and handed two of them to Sigurd and Sigmund; then he said to Ivar: “Foster-brother, let us hope that victory will be thine; but thou hast to fight against one of the greatest champions of our land, a man very skilled in the handling of the sword and of the axe.”
“Now it is better to stand by one’s word, and not to be the first to ask for peace,” Ketil said.
“Thou art right,” replied Ivar. Then he sang: “Lovely maid of Svithjod, today I fight for thee; I will come to thee victorious, Randalin; today Ketil will die.”
Ketil began to shout fiercely, and the berserk frenzy came upon him. He bit the rim of his shield, and looked like a wild beast; foam came from his moth, but after a while he became himself again.
Ivar and Ketil, after shaking hands, went inside the boundaries of the dueling place, and placed themselves on the squares that were marked on the cloak.
First Ivar sang: “Thou, Ketil, wilt today lodge with Odin.”
And Ketil sang back: “I do not put my trust in Odin, but before night though, Ivar, wilt be among the dead.”
Hjalmar held the shield of Ivar, and Bodmod that of Ketil, his father. Ivar had the sword Hrotti, and when it struck Ketil’s shield, it was as if lightning came from it. Ketil, seeing the sparks said: I should not have fought against thee if I had known that thou hadst Hrotti with thee. It is most likely, as my father said, that we brothers are to be short-lived, except the one of us who is named after him.”
Heedless of this complaint, Ivar struck at Ketil’s sheild, and dealt blow after blow so quickly, that Ketil could not strike him, having to shelter himself behind his shield-bearer; then Ivar drew back to get room to wield his sword and aim a blow at Ketil, but Ketil was too quick for him, and Ivar’s shield was cut asunder. New shields were provided, and these were equally cut to pieces. Each side had now spoiled two shields, both combatants had only one shield left, and the fight was to be decisive.
Thus followed the fiercest of combats. Ketil sang: “There is courage in Ketil. My sword Hviting is sharp; it will belie the word of Odin. I tell thee, Ivar, it is unsafe to trust him; use thy arms and hands well before we part, for soon thou art to fall.”
Ivar replied: “Soon, Ketil, wilt thou fall to the ground.”
Here Ketil drew back with a swift motion, to wield his sword more easily, and deal a death blow at Ivar. But Ivar sprang towards him just at this instant, and struck him a blow which almost cleft his shoulder in two, and he staggered outside the mark, and fell mortally wounded.
Thereupon Ketil died, having fought and fallen valiantly. According to ancient custom, a large bull was led forward, and sacrificed by Ivar as the victor.
Ivar then went back to Dampstadir, and the Sviar to Upsalir to tell Randalin of the great victory of Ivar, who on account of his deed obtained still greater renown than before.
—From Ivar The Viking by Paul du Chailu (1835—1903). The French-American traveler and anthropologist, du Chailu, wrote his Viking era novel using primary sources, with the purpose of accurately describing Norse culture.
The two forms of dueling described above are very different from each other:
Einvigi is a combat duel involving choice of any weapon, on any type of terrain and there are no rules governing its conduct. Einvigi is essentially a glorified brawl with weapons meant to settle disputes.
Holmganga, or “Island walk,” is governed by a series of rules and provisions that set it somewhat apart from both a typical code duello (which dealt primarily with “points of honor”) and the more traditional trial by combat that originated with the Norse’s Germanic ancestors. The Holmganga was used to settle disputes about property as well as insults or betrayals. The term literally translates as “To walk on an island,” which probably denotes its origins of being held on islands. Since these were typically fatal affairs, the geographic constraints of an island made it the perfect dueling ground. Two men would go onto the island and only one would come off. The use of a large ox hide or “cloak” as the physical parameters of the contest, as described in Ivar The Viking, replaced the island in later instances of Holmganga, or when an island was not readily available.