“There often were games of ball; many asked the brothers to go to the games: they said they had often been at these games and were rather rough-handed. The Jarl’s men said they would take care of themselves whatever might happen. The next morning the brothers went to the games, and generally had the ball during the day; they pushed men and let them fall roughly, and beat others. At night three men had their arms broken, and many were bruised or maimed; the Jarl’s men now thought themselves ill-treated, and this lasted for several days.” Then Stefnir, the Jarl’s son, got Hrólf to go with him against them. “The next day Hrólf and Stefnir went to the games; the brothers had also come. Hrafn took the ball, and Krák the bat, and they played as they were wont. The Jarl sat on a chair and looked at the game, and when they had played it for a while Hrólf got hold of the ball. He snatched the bat from Krák and handed it to Stefnir. They then played for a long time, and the brothers did not get hold of the ball. Once when Hrafn ran after the ball a young kinsman of the Jarl’s, who liked to banter with others, put out his foot so that Hrafn fell. He got very angry, jumped up at once, caught the man, lifted him up, and flung him down on his head so that his neck was broken” (Göngu Hrolf, ix.). “Once Víglund struck the ball out of Jökul’s (of Foss) reach; Jökul got angry, took the ball, and flung it at Viglund’s forehead so hard that both his eyebrows hung down. Trausti cut a piece from his shirt and tied up the brows of his brother. When he had done that the men of Foss had gone” (Viglund’s Saga, ch. 11). The most popular of these games was the _Knattleik_. Special places were chosen, generally the ice of a frozen lake. The Breidvikings used to have games of ball during the long winter nights; and where these took place shelters were built for the people, for the games often lasted for a fortnight. The balls, which were very hard and seem to have been made of wood, were struck by a bat of wood called _knatt-tré_. In this game, which often became serious from the wounds inflicted by ball or bat, two men of equal strength usually played together. _Knattleik_ was played as follows: The ball, usually of wood, was thrown with the hand into the air, and then struck with the bat; another person caught it with his hands, or knocked it back with a kind of bat. This the other players sought to prevent by shoving him aside or throwing him down, or by striking the ball away from him. If he let the ball fly beyond the bounds, or fall to the ground, he had to go in search of it. “It was the custom of the men of Breidavik in the autumn to have games of ball about the winter nights. Men came there from the whole district, and large halls were raised for the games. Men dwelt there for half a month or more” (Eyrbyggja, ch. 43).