Presenter……. Good morning. It’s 10 a.m. and time for the weekly edition of ‘Sports As They Once Were
Played’. As usual, I’ve got Mark Sanders, our resident sports historian, with me. Hello, Mark.
Mark…… Hi there. Good morning.
Presenter…….. Good to see you again. What have you got for us today?
Mark…….. Well, today’s programme will differ slightly from our usual focus on games that were once
popular anytime between the ancient period and the Middle Ages. Today, we’re looking at Knattleikr,
an extremely old game, once played by the Vikings of Iceland. What makes Knattleikr special,
however, is that it has recently become popular again, thanks to Norse culture enthusiasts. So much
so, that you can see it being played at events such as medieval fairs. Some colleges even have a
team. So, we’re moving from southern Europe, where we ended up last week, to the freezing north.
Presenter….. Wonderful, it sounds fascinating, but the name’s a bit tricky. I didn’t quite catch it ...
Mark……. Yeah, it’s called Knattleikr. Well, first of all, I have to admit that there is relatively little
information about the game. What we do know is found in several Viking sagas and, although the
various descriptions are consistent about certain features of the game, there are many unanswered
questions, especially when it comes to the equipment used and the exact rules of the game. So the
historical re-enactment groups I mentioned earlier often rely on their imagination when playing the
game.
Presenter….. OK, so what aspects of the game can we be certain of?
Mark….. Firstly, the players can use wooden sticks as well as their hands to hit a hard ball and score
points. The game should be played by two teams, however, the number of players in each team is
open to speculation. In my opinion, teams would have been fairly large, up to several dozen players,
rather than the small teams that play in the modern-day interpretation of the game. There’s also
some disagreement about what the ball and the wooden sticks looked like, but we know that the
sticks were often broken in the heat of the game, but repaired on the spot. Another point that we
know for sure is that the games drew enormous crowds of spectators from all over Iceland. Most
sources suggest that games lasted a long time. It seems certain that tournaments would have lasted
from morning till night, but there’s also evidence that they might have carried on for several days, so
there is also some uncertainty here.
Presenter… Phew! It sounds like an exhausting activity!
Mark….. And a violent one, too! Some of the sagas mention bloody injuries caused by being hit by the
ball or by players hitting each other while fighting for possession of the ball. And the most striking
thing is that there were penalties imposed for breaking the rules too often, something you would
hardly expect of the warlike Vikings! Many of the descriptions suggest that the game might have
been played on ice, things like frozen ponds, with players using tar and sand on their boots to help
them keep their balance.
Presenter..Thank you for that, Mark, it all sounds fascinating. Now, we’ll be taking a short commercial
break…
Odpowiedz na pytania
1 How does today’s programme differ from previous ones in the series?
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2 Why do the historical re-enactment groups often rely on their imagination when playing the game?
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3 What equipment is used to play the game?
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4 According to Mark, what is the most surprising fact about the game?
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5.How does the focus of today’s programme differ from other programmes in the series?
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6.Where does information about the game come from?
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7.What does Mark think about the actual number of players in the original game?
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8, How popular was the game in the past?
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