holmgang

noun

1. In Norse and Icelandic culture, a duel to the death.

   countable, uncountable

   A man could no longer be challenged for his lands or his women-folk, since the only result of holmgang which the law would allow, apart from wounds or death, was a claim for the payment of the agreed stakes.

Where it comes from

From Old Norse hólmganga; cognate with Icelandic hólmganga, Danish holmgang, Swedish holmgång.

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry holmgang (CC BY-SA 4.0).

← holardholon →

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