The writers of skating history have awarded Jackson Haines credit for inventing the toe pick in the nineteenth century. They must not have known about the prikschaats (prick-skate). This type of skate features an iron blade with a spike at the toe. It's not quite like a modern toe pick, being a single spike rather… Continue reading Medieval toe picks
Category: Medieval skating
The first picture of metal-bladed skates
It's not the famous woodcut of Lydwina's accident from 1498. Check out this image from Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Douce 5. (I can't post the image here because of copyright restrictions.) This picture is from a Flemish manuscript that's around 170 years older than the famous woodcut. It's a calendar, and the February page shows… Continue reading The first picture of metal-bladed skates
Knattleikr
When I was in graduate school, whenever I met someone who studied Old Norse, I'd ask if they knew anything about skating in the literature. Usually, after a few minutes' thought, the answer was, "there's the hockey game in Gísla saga...". The hockey game is knattleikr, a ball game that was usually (but not always)… Continue reading Knattleikr