© Public Domain, 1934 |
|
|
|
|
| General Information |
Glíma is an Icelandic folk wrestling. It is an upright, standing style of wrestling. Like other wrestling, the contestants should trip each other up making their body touch the ground.Since the early 1900s, Glima has transitioned into a form of belt wrestling using a leather belt around their waist, which is connected to the other belts on their thighs of each leg. This allows a better grip on each other than grabbing their trousers. |
| History/Development |
Glima was brought to Iceland by Norwegian and Celtic settlers in Iceland. Einarsson (1988) depicts that Icelanders played Glima during the festival in 1,874 held for celebrating the 1,000th anniversary of settlement in the country.
The first Glima tournament was held in 1906 (Eichberg 2012: 466). Glima became demonstration sports in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, but it did not gain much traction (Bergvall 1913; Yttergren 2018). |
Transmission
(Policies/institutions) |
The International Glima Association was founded in 2007 and the first world championship was held two years later. Glima is part of International Federation of Celtic Wrestling. |
| Relevant Organisations |
- Icelandic Glima Association
- International Glima Association
- Viking Glima Federation |
| Additional Materials |
|
| References |
- Bergvall, E. (1913). V. Olympiaden. Official redogörelse för olympiska spelen i Stockholm 1912. Stockholm.
- Einarsson, T. (1988). Glima: The Icelandic Wrestling. Reykjavik, Iceland: Glimusamband Islands.
- Eichberg, H. (2012). Wrestling, Iceland (Glima) In: Nauright, J & Parrish, eds. Sports Around the World: History, Culture, and Practice. Vol. 2. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2012, 466.
- Yttergren, L. (2018). “Baseball, glima and Gotlandic sport: An analysis of the demonstration sports in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics”, 2018 Diagoras: International Academic Jounral on Olympic Studies, 2:103-122. |
Note: not too many reliable sources from journals, theses, and books exist, so may need to take a lot from websites, media, etc. | |
