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
The first book on skating
Robert Jones's A Treatise on Skating, first published in 1772, is generally considered the first book on skating. It went through several editions between 1772 and 1855, with numerous additions and changes over time. Aimed at beginners, it has two parts: a section on basic skills, including choosing and putting on skates, stroking and edges,… Continue reading The first book on skating
Figures removed
Back in the day, skaters used to do figures as well as freestyle. Figures are patterns on the ice that skaters draw with their blades. There is a standard list; figures on it are called compulsory figures or school figures. When they were required in competitions, they counted for a percentage of the skater's overall… Continue reading Figures removed
Frostiana
I recently finished putting together a new edition of Frostiana, a book published in 1814 to commemorate the last frost fair held on the Thames in London. Frost fairs were held in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when the river got cold enough to allow people to set up booths and generally be active without… Continue reading Frostiana
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
Layback & cross-foot spins
I wrote about the cross-foot spin in a previous post. This post is about how its neglect led to different requirements for male and female skaters. The cross-foot spin became a short program requirement for men parallel to the layback spin requirement for women in 1975. It also began to parallel the layback spin in… Continue reading Layback & cross-foot spins
Figures & science
The nineteenth century was when the system of compulsory figures was being formalized and governing bodies were created. Vandervell & Witham's A System of Figure-Skating was the first `scientific' treatise on figure skating. At the time, most figure skaters were rich men: they had the disposable income to spend their time --- all day, on… Continue reading Figures & science
Takeoff edges
One feature that differentiates jumps in figure skating is the takeoff edge. Jumps can start on any edge, but nearly all finish on the backward outside edge. The flip, for example, begins on a backward inside edge. In contrast, the Lutz takeoff is on a backward outside edge. These two jumps are otherwise identical: a… Continue reading Takeoff edges
The cross-foot spin
The cross-foot spin is a figure skating move that was once quite popular but is rarely performed today. Laurence Owen performed one at the end of her 1961 National Championship-winning free skate (jump ahead to 4:30 if you just want to see the final spin combination): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0114AudgYms While I was looking for a video, I… Continue reading The cross-foot spin
AD 200
Many books and articles on skating history (I won't name names) state that metal-bladed skates first appeared in Scandinavia in about AD 200 without citing any evidence, except maybe the claim that Old Norse literature mentions them. I haven't been able to find anything to support this statement. There wasn't any Old Norse literature at… Continue reading AD 200