ABSTRACT
IT is the custom of the northern peoples in their foresight and shrewdness to train young lads in various warlike exercises and in the theory and practice of attacking castles; so, they spur them on, since they think it is a particularly enjoyable occupation for such youths to address themselves to this beginners’ use of arms, with neither slaughter, bloodshed, nor any kind of danger to their lives. Every winter, while the snow lasts, the young fellows, urged on by their elders, assemble in bands at some elevated spot, all working alike to fetch huge masses of snow. With these, at least while they are on holiday, they busily erect defences shaped like the walls of military camps; a building of this sort, which is fitted with windows, they sprinkle continually with water, so that the snow, being bound together by the water, may become more effectively hardened as the cold comes on. By their care and enthusiasm the forts are made so strong that they could stand up not only to light blows but to brazen balls and even, if necessary, to the shock of tortoise formations. 1
Warlike exercises of young lads
Snow is hardened by water
