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.William R. Short (2010), Icelanders in the Viking Age: The People of the Sagas, ed. McFarland, p. 218. It was a cultural event of great importance and sometimes led to verbal and physical confrontations among the spectators. The triumph of a champion or the other could have social and political impact due to the pacts and alliances between goði (chieftains) and bóndi (homesteaders), as testified in the Norse sagas.Edwards, Elwyn Hartley (1994), The Encyclopedia of the Horse, New York, ed. Dorling Kindersley. pp. 194–195. The site where these battles were held was a neutral place used to strengthen friendship or address issues among rivals. It was also an opportunity for courtship between young couples.Martin, John D. (2003), Sports and Games in Icelandic Saga Literature. Scandinavian Studies 75: 27–32. Sometimes rivalries raised among participants ended in bloody conflicts.Laxdæla Saga, Penguin Classics, 1975, p. 130–131 footnote. Some examples appear in the Njáls saga (chapter 59) and Víga-Glúms saga (chapters 13-14).Byock, Jesse (1993), Feud in the Icelandic Saga, University of California Press, p. 243.
The origin of the activity possibly came from Norway. Sometimes Icelanders exported stallions specially trained for competitions on the continent.Hrafnkel's Saga and Other Histories, Penguin Classics, p. 73 footnote.
Skeið Skeið was another activity related to horses. It was a popular race competition from mainland Scandinavia.Svale Solheim (1956), Horse-fight and Horse-race in Norse Tradition, ed. H. Aschehoug, pp. 45, 46, 162.
Popular culture Hestavíg is featured in the Icelandic viking film In the Shadow of the Raven.
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