4. A Hestavíg was a ritualized and brutal competition wherein horses were forced to fight to the death in front of cheering spectators
A Hestavíg was an important cultural event that occurred in Scandinavia during the Viking Age, particularly within the Icelandic Commonwealth between 930 and 1262 CE, consisting of a brutal fight between two stallions; believed to have originated in Norway, the cultural practice was subsequently exported to neighboring Viking regions. The Hestavíg served several important cultural and societal functions for the Vikings. Firstly, the fighting simply served to demonstrate the strength of the horses and identify the ideal specimens for the breeding of future stock; horse fighting does occur naturally in the wild over prospective mates, and as such one can interpret the Hestavíg as a benign if artificial recreation of this natural competition.
Traditionally taking place within a ringed area, designed to prevent a stallion from retreating from the confrontation as would occur in nature, two stallions would be introduced to a mare in heat. The fertile mare would then be tethered in the center of the enclosure, or sometimes outside but still within scent range, as a deliberate inducement for the horses fight over her; if the horses chose not to fight for whatever reason, they would be compelled to do so via whipping or startling. The Hestavíg was recorded as lasting between fifteen minutes and more than three hours in some cases, with rounds introduced to separate the constant animal violence, and typically concluded with the debilitating injury or death of one of the two combatants.