As evidence that all of these competitive games were enormously important to the Vikings, Short points out that often the most prominent men called entire communities together for a leikmót (games meeting) which could last for days. For Short, the benefi t of studying the Viking games is achieving a better understanding of Viking culture. For Maasing, the purpose is entertainment. He talks about watching children playing with adults, lessening the gap between young and old. " There are games for everyone, " says Massing. " Sometimes it is an advantage to be small and fast ... in other games, the fat ones are the best. " But really, he says, it's just enormously fun. K^`^c\ \Zih i]Z adlYdlc dc ]dl id eaVn hdbZ igVY^i^dcVa K^`^c\ \VbZh XXdgY^c\ id B^X]VZa BVVh^c\ d[ IZa\Z c i]Z XajW¿h ild YZXVYZh d[ ZmiZch^kZ igVkZah! ]Z ]Vh lViX]ZY l^i] eg^YZ Vh i]Z \VbZh ]VkZ hiVgiZY id hegZVY# =ZgZ VgZ _jhi [Zl i]Vi gZfj^gZ kZgn a^iiaZ Zfj^ebZci l]^aZ egd " k^Y^c\ eaZcin d[ ZciZgiV^cbZci# BdYZgc YVn =cZ[ViVÉ Ij\ d[ LVg 6bdc\ i]Z bdhi Y^kZghZ K^`^c\ \VbZh! Ij\ d[ LVg ^h V [Vkdg^iZ [dg X]^aYgZc VcY VYjaih Va^`Z# I]Z \VbZ b^\]i WZ Vh h^beaZ Vh ild bZc ij\\^c\ Vi V bZiVa hcj[[ " Wdm# ;dg V bdgZ XdbeaZm kZgh^dc! ign ejaa^c\ V eaVnZg d[[ Vcdi]Zg eZghdc¿h h]djaYZgh jh^c\ V gdeZ l]^aZ h^ii^c\ Vide ndjg dlc eVgi " cZg¿h h]djaYZgh# DcZ h^beaZ kZg " h^dc i]Vi ^h hj^iVWaZ [dg X]^aYgZc gZfj^gZh ild eaVnZgh id h^i dc i]Z \gdjcY! [VX^c\ ZVX] di]Zg! l^i] higV^\]i aZ\h! [ZZi V\V^chi [ZZi# I]Z eaVnZgh \gVhe Z^i]Zg ZcY d[ V hi^X`dg eZg]Veh gdeZ dg Xadi] [dg ndjc\Zg X]^aYgZc VcY ejaa jci^a dcZ eaVnZg ^h a^[iZY d[[ i]Z \gdjcY# I]Z hZViZY eaVnZg l^ch# ?jbe^c\@>C< 6EG>A '%&& 41