This weekend the traditional Bear Pit tourneys were held at Market Day at Birka. The format is a 10 foot by 10 foot list. Combatants can be killed according to the usual rules of combat or by being driven out of bounds of the list with both feet. A single foot out of bounds results in a wound. The victor remains in the list to take on the next comer, retaining any wounds they may have received.
The scoring awards 2 points for a win, 1 point for a loss, and 1 point each for a double-kill.
Results are courtesy of Northernarmy.org
The scores for all participating fighters in both the heavy list and fencing tourneys can be viewed there.
photo courtesy of Lijsbet van Catwiic
First place in the heavy list tourney went to Douglas Henry, followed by Arne Ulrichsson and Matthew Moravaeous. All three are members of the Order of the Chivalry.
The overall statistics on the tourney are:
| Total number of fighters | 137 |
| Total number of fights | 3039 |
| Total Duration | 3 hours |
| Number of fights per minute | 16.88 |
| Number of fights per second | 0.28 |
Photo courtesy of Lijsbet van Catwiic
The Fencing Tournament was won by Tora Taka, followed by Gabriel Roberts and Cassius Pontianus.
The overall statistics are:
| Total number of fighters | 94 |
| Total number of fights | 1770 |
| Total Duration | 3 hours |
| Number of fights per minute | 9.83 |
| Number of fights per second | 0.16 |
The amazing number of fights packed into three hours is a result of the Minister of the Lists having access to a sophisticated scoring database, and entry to a crew of dedicated volunteers, enabling the losing combatant to report their loss, and their victorious opponent’s win, and get back into line to fight again in under a minute.
For the Youth Combat Tourney, Diana the Mighty won Division I and Leon Griffin won Division III. Xavier, also from Division III, won most chivalrous of the list.
First round (greatsword): 
From His Majesty: