The traditional Viking sport
Glima
A Glima tournament will be hosted as part of the OMG Festival 2021. If you’d like to try your hand at the traditional Viking sport of Glima this tournament is open to the public. It will take part on the Saturday of the festival. To book your place use this link to buy a festival ticket and then fill in the special Glima application form.
The martial art of the Viking era was used both for fun and battle. The sport was practiced by men and women in all ages, and played a significant part in the society as they did fights and tournaments at all sorts of gatherings like festivals and political meetings (Ting). Glima was also used as training to prepare warriors for battle. When doing sport-Glima they made it an honor to not injure their opponent, and had fixed guidelines to ensure this. Unlike in battle-Glima where the Vikings had a world-famous reputation for being brutal and effective.
In sport-Glima all hits and kicks are prohibited, unless you use an open hand. No brutality like biting, scratching or pinching eyes, and other sensitive parts are allowed. You win a fight by wrestling or throwing your opponent to the ground while still standing on your feet. Basically last man still standing. There is only one round, and its not over before one is standing alone.
Glima lost its position in the Norwegian society after the black death, but has been kept alive in the former Norwegian colony, Iceland where it is still considered the national sport.
Christian Westblikk will host our Glima-event. He has trained Glima since 2015 and is the reigning heavy-weight champion of Gudvangen, the biggest tournament in the world. He has trained under both of the big Norwegian Glima names of our age; Lars Magnar Enoksen and Tyr Neilsen
Saturday, daytime he will host a short introduction with training, before we will go over to some fights. If there are enough people attending we will do a tournament. If not there will be an organized demonstration fight between some of the best Norwegian Glima athletes alive.