hist-games: Outdoor games

[SEDWilkins at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/3/2008 6:30:21 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
piotr.adamczyk at muzeum.elblag.pl writes:

>>I am searching for any kind of  information about early medieval outdoor 
games: played by children, warriors,  womens etc. I am esp. interrested in 
Viking and hanzeatic  era.<<



If I may be so bold, my book Sports and Games of Medieval Cultures  includes 
a number of outdoor games from Northern Europe. Part of the difficulty  in 
planning for a festival or other event is that many of these games are still  
played today, so that they don't feel exotic: tag, hopscotch (which Roman  
soldiers reportedly played with the hopper carrying a fellow on his  back), 
prisoner's base, boules, quilles, quoits, drop the handkerchief,  round the village, 
arch-and-trap ("London Bridge"), salt posts, shuttlecock -  all period, and all 
still seen in every school play yard. Less common today  would be tilting, 
hoop-rolling, and top races. Many modern children (and their  parents) have 
never played at marbles. Hoodman's blind would feel "period" but  may not pass 
modern queasiness around encouraging children to buffet one  another.
 
If any of the above are obscure, feel free to write and I'll send along  more 
details off-list.
 
Sally Wilkins
Sports and Games in Medieval Cultures
Greenwood Press



**************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living.      
(http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-duffy/
2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.pbm.com/pipermail/hist-games/attachments/20080303/8e2f4bdf/attachment.htm