Hestavíg

Hestavíg was an entertainment activity during the Viking Age in the Icelandic Commonwealth (930–1262), presumably a sport consisting of a brutal and bloody confrontation between two stallions, egged on by their masters, which mainly served to choose the best specimens for breeding.

[1] It was a cultural event of great importance and sometimes behaved verbal and physical confrontations among the spectators.

The triumph of a champion or the other could impact socially and politically in the pacts and alliances between goði (chieftains) and bóndi (homesteaders), as testified in the Norse sagas.

[2] The site where these battles held was a neutral place used to strengthen friendship or treat issues among rivals.

[7] Hestavíg is featured in the Icelandic viking film In the Shadow of the Raven.