Abstract
The Old Norse sagas are typically focused on the story and on comments on various social phenomena, whereas depictions of everyday reality remain in the background. The sagas nevertheless contain descriptions of pastimes - mainly because such scenes often contribute to the construction of the storyline and of the social commentary.
Unlike idleness (in the sense of passive inactivity), pastime (in the sense of organized collective entertainment) is usually not just socially approved, but it is an inseparable part of the social relationships that are the object of the sagas. In this respect, an important aspect of pastime is its public, collective character.
A scene featuring the motif of a game can serve as a means of foreshadowing more serious events, but a seemingly insignificant brawl during public sports games can sometimes lead to serious consequences. In other cases, by contrast, the concept of "it's just a game" allows the characters to retain peace even after a violent clash during the match, because the social rules concerning real fights do not apply to such situations.
It all depends on the circumstances at the level of plot, as well as on the meaning of the episode at the level of social commentary. If we pay attention to all these aspects of episodes depicting games, wrestling matches, and feasts in the saga literature, they can tell us much more than just what the Old Norsemen did to pass the time.