Hólm-ganga
Old Norse Dictionary - hólm-gangaMeaning of Old Norse word "hólm-ganga" in English.
As defined by the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English dictionary:
hólm-ganga Old Norse word can mean:
- hólm-ganga
- u, f. ‘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, Korm. 84. The ancient Icel. Sagas abound in wagers of battle, chiefly the Korm. S. ch. 10 and passim: some champions were nicknamed from the custom, e. g. Hólmgöngu-Bersi (Korm. S.), Hólmgöngu-Starri, Hólmgöngu-Máni, Hólmgöngu-Hrafn, Landn. About A. D. 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. ch. 11, cp. Valla l. ch. 5 (þá vóru af tekin hólmgöngu-lög öll ok hólmgöngur), referring to about A. D. 1010; a single instance however of a challenge in the north of Icel. is recorded after this date (about the year 1030–1040), but it was not accepted (Lv. S. ch. 30); the wager in Lv. ch. 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 A. D. 1600, Bisk. Ann. ch. 36, Safn 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 A. D. 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 Grett. S. ch. 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, Korm. S. l. c., Gunnl. S. l. c., Eg. ch. 57, 67, Nj. ch. 24, 60, Landn. 2. ch. 13, 3. ch. 7, Rd. ch. 1, 19, Gísl. init., Glúm. ch. 4, Valla l. l. c., Hallfr. S. ch. 10. A curious kind of duel in a tub is recorded in Flóam. S. ch. 17, called kerganga, perhaps akin to the mod. Swed. fight in a belt. For England see Sir Edmund Head’s interesting notes to Glúm.
- hólm-ganga
- COMPDS: hólmgönguboð, hólmgöngulög, hólmgöngumaðr, hólmgöngustaðr, hólmgöngusverð.
Possible runic inscription in Younger Futhark:ᚼᚢᛚᛘ-ᚴᛅᚾᚴᛅ
Younger Futhark runes were used from 8th to 12th centuries in Scandinavia and their overseas settlements
Abbreviations used:
- A. D.
- Anno Domini.
- ch.
- chapter.
- cp.
- compare.
- e. g.
- exempli gratia.
- f.
- feminine.
- Icel.
- Iceland, Icelander, Icelanders, Icelandic.
- l.
- line.
- L.
- Linnæus.
- l. c.
- loco citato.
- m.
- masculine.
- mod.
- modern.
- n.
- neuter.
- S.
- Saga.
- Swed.
- Swedish.
- v.
- vide.
Works & Authors cited:
- Ann.
- Íslenzkir Annálar. (D. IV.)
- Eg.
- Egils Saga. (D. II.)
- Flóam. S.
- Flóamanna Saga. (E. I.)
- Gísl.
- Gísla Saga. (D. II.)
- Glúm.
- Víga-Glúms Saga. (D. II.)
- Grett.
- Grettis Saga. (D. II.)
- Hallfr. S.
- Hallfreðar Saga. (D. II.)
- Korm.
- Kormaks Saga. (D. II.)
- Landn.
- Landnáma. (D. I.)
- Lv.
- Ljósvetninga Saga. (D. II.)
- Nj.
- Njála. (D. II.)
- Rd.
- Reykdæla Saga. (D. II.)
- Safn
- Safn til Sögu Islands.
- Valla L.
- Valla Ljóts Saga. (D. II.)
Also available in related dictionaries:
This headword also appears in dictionaries of other languages descending from Old Norse.