Lausatok Glima (Loose-Grip Glima)
Old Icelandic wrestling with loose grips anywhere on the opponent's body, related to glíma. The old glíma rules banned it in glíma, and the last documented contest dates from 2007.
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About Lausatok Glima (Loose-Grip Glima)
Lausatök is an old Icelandic wrestling form. The Cleasby and Vigfússon dictionary of 1874 explains its name as a loose grip, the opposite of a tight clasp around the back. According to Þorsteinn Einarsson, lausatök were practised in Iceland alongside glíma, hryggspenna and axlatök, and together with them the Jónsbók law code, adopted at the Alþingi in 1281, classed them under leikfang. Charles Nathan Hatton wrote in 2011 that hryggspenna and lausatök are also often called glíma, but that since the 13th century the word glíma has mostly been a synonym for the style with a grip on the trousers. Þorsteinn Einarsson infers that lausatök meant grips on the whole of the opponent's body and techniques with the legs, trunk and arms. According to Hatton, they had no prescribed starting stance, although wrestlers usually took a grip on the collar and elbow. The old glíma rules, which the journal of the Icelandic Literary Society cited in 1900, banned lausatök in glíma. A reviewer in the journal Skírnir in 1918 agreed with the interpretation that glíma is in origin something between lausatök and hryggspenna. In November 2007, according to the press of the time, lausatök were also contested at a glíma tournament. On the website of Glímusamband Íslands and in the glíma rules of 2024 we have not found any mention of lausatök.
History
The Cleasby and Vigfússon dictionary of 1874 gives lausa-tök as a wrestling term for a loose grip, the opposite of a tight clasp around the back. In 1987 Þorsteinn Einarsson wrote that in Iceland axlatök were practised alongside glíma, lausatök and hryggspenna, and together with them the Jónsbók law code, adopted at the Alþingi in 1281, classed them under leikfang. According to him the word leikfang is attested already in the saga Heiðarvíga, written around 1200, as a collective name for kinds of wrestling practised for amusement. According to him, fangbrögð is mentioned in many sagas about Icelanders, written from around 1200 to the 15th century. A reviewer in the journal Skírnir stated in 1918 that in Iceland various lausatök were practised as everywhere, especially axlatök, but not as a regular discipline. According to him, fights to the death were seldom only hryggspenna or only lausatök, but both. According to him, a fight long began as lausatök and passed into hryggspenna or into something between the two, that is, into glíma or something of the kind. Þorsteinn Einarsson, on the contrary, writes that the sources mention axlatök but do not describe them, and often confuse them with lausatök. The Icelandic Canadian wrote in 1947 that the first settlers brought two kinds of wrestling to Iceland, hryggspenna and lausatök, or catch-as-catch-can.
How it differs
Today's glíma rules Glímulög prescribe a firm grip on the belt and thigh strap and prohibit other grips. The old glíma rules, which the journal of the Icelandic Literary Society cited in 1900, expressly prohibited lausatök in glíma. Þorsteinn Einarsson wrote in 1987 that in Scottish and English wrestling with a grip over the shoulders, glíma wrestlers may take a grip on the jacket and use against the opponent both glíma techniques and the hand techniques of Icelandic lausatök.
Technique
Þorsteinn Einarsson infers in 1987 that leikfang included wrestling with free grips on the opponent's whole body, in which techniques were performed with the legs, torso and hands. In 1992 he characterised laustatök with the words sviptingar, sveiflur, hnykkir and hrindingar, with techniques of hips, legs and hands. In an article of 1977 he classed laustök among the fighting fangbrögð in two forms, with a grip on the jacket and techniques with the leg, and with grips on the whole body and techniques with the leg. Charles Nathan Hatton wrote in 2011 that lausatök had no prescribed starting stance, although wrestlers usually took a grip on the collar and elbow. The magazine Ský described lausatök in 1997 as wrestling in which one was allowed to grab with the hands anywhere on the opponent.
Competition
Morgunblaðið announced in November 2007 that a glíma tournament would also compete in hryggspenna and lausatök. Austurglugginn printed results with separate lausatök categories on 22 November 2007, for example for women over 66 kg with competitors from Sweden and Iceland. We have not found a more recent lausatök competition.
Today
On the website of Glímusamband Íslands, in the glíma rules of 2024 or in the federation's annual report for 2024, we have not found any mention of lausatök. Morgunblaðið announced in 1995 demonstrations of the old fangbrögð, among them lausatök, axlatök and hryggspenna, with glíma wrestlers in period clothing.
Did you know
Þorsteinn Einarsson gives as an example of laus tök og fanghella wrestling the fights of Finnbogi with blámaður at Earl Hákon's and with Álfur in the saga of Finnbogi. Charles Nathan Hatton considers it probable that Jóhannes Jósefsson drew part of the inspiration for his self-defence performance from the more liberal style of lausatök, which was still practised in Iceland at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The journal Andvari in 1881, in listing pastimes, mentions glíma in the form of lausatök and hryggspenna.
Frequently asked questions
What does lausatök mean?
The Cleasby and Vigfússon dictionary of 1874 explains lausa-tök as a wrestling term for a loose grip, the opposite of a tight clasp around the back.
Is lausatök a form of glíma?
The sources differ. Hatton writes that lausatök are often called glíma, but Þorsteinn Einarsson and the journal Skírnir understand them as a related, separate kind of wrestling, and the old glíma rules banned them in glíma.
Is lausatök still contested today?
The last contest we found took place in November 2007. The glíma federation Glímusamband Íslands does not list lausatök in its rules or in its calendar for 2024.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.