Knattleikr- Norse Ball Game

Introduction

In the SCA, we’re always looking for new scenarios to test ourselves, and to keep combat entertaining both for the participants and spectators. This has led to dozens of different melee and tourney formats. One that was always a fan favourite was Dogball, or Jugging, a scenario based on the 1989 Rutger Hauer film ‘Blood of Heroes’. In a post-apocalyptic future, jugging is the blood sport of choice. I’ll admit right now that I’ve never seen the film and so I can’t comment on it directly, but what I have gathered is that teams of 5 fought against each other while trying to score points by placing a dog skull in the opponents goal.

Jugging in Blood of Heroes

In the SCA, the game was recreated as teams of 5 each armed in a different fashion. The actual equipment used seems to vary from Kingdom to Kingdom as do the specific rules, but the important part was that it led to a dynamic, fast-paced battle where the crowd had plenty of action to watch and the players had no shortage of violence to inflict.

What does this have to do with history, Vikings, or knattleikr which, the observant amongst you might have noticed is the title of this post? Well, that’s exactly one of the biggest issues we see with dogball: it lacks any historical reference. It’s something that was taken from a movie during the early times of the SCA and just sort of stuck, similar to ring belts and calling everyone -crat. Now, this is all well and good and there’s nothing wrong with wanting something like dogball, but 1989 is sliiiiightly out of period.

Knattleikr

Towards this end, I have been looking at the old Norse game Knattleikr, a ball game about which we have only limited information, but seems like a good place to start for several reasons. First, it’s mentioned in several different sagas (links to the sagas and chapters in the bibliography below), meaning it was a relatively common game. Second, among the equipment used to play were wooden bats which I imagine wouldn’t be too far off from the rattan we use as weapons in the SCA. Third, in the sagas it mentions that play could get bloody and heated.

The game has seen a recent resurgence in popularity in New England due to the research of Dr. William Short and the Hurstwic institute in Massachusetts. Hurstwic is known for their detailed readings of the sagas to bring the Viking age to light. With the hard details on knattleikr being so sparse, there’s a ton of guesswork and speculation in the creation of the game. In the links below, you can see how Dr. Short went about recreating the rules for Knattleikr.

Our rules will be slightly different, since they will be combining the SCA heavy combat rules, and be a slightly more aggressive version of the game played by the people at the Hurstwic Institute. The main focus of the game will still be scoring and running the ball, but fighting will be encouraged as part of the game rather than just a side effect of competition.

Final rundown of the facts that we have about the game from the sagas:

Players at the Hurstwic Institute enjoy Knattleikr

Game was played by teams.
There was a ball which was hard enough to break skin.
There were bats which were sometimes used to swing on the opponents.
Players paired off (although its uncertain if this is just like lining up in football).
The ball could go out of play.
The game was played on a field (some people say the field was marked, which would make sense since the ball went out of play)

What we don't know:
How do you score?
Was hitting frowned upon?
How many players per team?
How long would the game last?
What was the size of the field?

Proposed Rules for SCA Knattleikr

Two evenly matched teams: I am suggesting 5 to make it easier to get two teams.


A ball: I am open to suggestions on this one, but I’ll suggest a softball or similar until something better is found.

Possible design for a period appropriate ball

To score, a player must place the ball in the opposing team’s basket.

Equipment: each player will be armoured in the standards of SCA Heavy Combat, and armed with a single sword.

Blows and Resurrections: Only blows to the head or body will count. As always, these will count as a kill and the person struck will need to go to their goal to resurrect. In Dogball, pinning was allowed, which I think would slow the game down. When you are killed, you must immediately drop the ball if you have it.

Game will end when one team has 10 points.

Play begins with one team serving the ball to the other, sort of like a kick off. To serve, a player will toss the ball in the air and then strike it in the direction of the other team with their bat. The serving team can not touch the ball until it has been claimed by the receiving team or it has come to a full stop without being claimed.

Once the ball has been served, play continues until a team scores with the ball able to change possession depending on kills and/or being dropped.

If the ball goes out of play, the team that was not responsible for it leaving play can throw it in from the sidelines (like soccer).

Field should be about 28.5mx15.25m, the size of a basketball court. (This is one of the things that will require the most testing)

Optional Rules

Dogball weapons- Instead of being armed with a single sword, players can be armed in any fashion in which they’re authorised, except long spear. No two players on a team can be armed the same way. Anyone with weapons in both hands or a two handed weapon can not handle the ball.
Pinning- A player can, after killing an opponent, leave their weapon against them preventing them from walking to their goal.
Crowd throw-ins- Rather than either team throwing the ball in when it leaves play, a spectator can do so.

Conclusion

Hurstwic Player

The truth is that, because of all of the conjecture, these knattleikr rules are only slightly more historical than dogball. I can say that I did my best to keep the spirit of the game intact, and work with what we understand from other games. The biggest hurdle is combining what we see in the sagas with the rules we already have in place in the SCA to keep us safe.

That being said, it isn’t overly unreasonable that knattleikr could have been a combat ball game. We see examples in other cultures around the world; Buzkashi, a game in the Afghanistan region in which riders strike each other with whips is a good example. It’s also supposedly one of the inspirations for dogball. The Mayan ball game is also an example of a combative ball game on a court. We may never know exactly how the ancient Norse played knattleikr, but what we can do is take their example and create a fun game for ourselves.

The goal right now is to play a couple of games to see how the rules work, and if it is as fun as I imagine. If you get the chance to play let me know how it works for you!

Bibliography

Grettir’s Saga - https://www.sagadb.org/grettis_saga.en (Chapter 15)
Egil’s Saga - https://www.sagadb.org/files/html/egils_saga.en.html (Chapter 40)
Eyrbyggja Saga - https://sagadb.org/eyrbyggja_saga.en (Chapter 43)
Hurstwic Recreatoin of Knattleikr - http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/daily_living/text/knattleikr.htm