Wild Beasts’ Match

Wild Beasts’ Match is the robbers’ customary contest for settling leadership between Matt and Borka. In the open ground below Wolf’s Neck, before both bands, it turns a longstanding rivalry into a public decision: Matt prevails, but the settlement preserves Borka’s chieftaincy and brings the two groups together under Matt’s superior authority.

Purpose and Custom

The match is a trial of strength whose outcome determines which of the two chieftains is the stronger leader. Its violence is part of its reputation: women and children are kept away, according to custom, because the contest is not considered suitable for them to witness. Ronia objects to watching her father take part, but Matt tells her she will not be permitted to attend. Noddle-Pete, despite feeling poorly, is invited to watch from horseback; he sits on a rocky outcrop in a fur, following the contest with eager attention.

The rules allow a broad range of physical tactics, including biting, scratching, and kicking, while forbidding a kick between the legs. That prohibition is treated as decisive: the contestant who breaks it loses immediately. The match thus has its own code, separate from the formal authority of the sheriff’s men and enforced by the robbers’ shared custom.

The Contest

On a cold, sunny morning, Matt’s robbers and Borka’s robbers assemble with spears to form a ring in the clearing below Wolf’s Neck. Matt and Borka remove their outer clothes, leaving their shirts, and prepare barefoot on the frosty ground. Their exchange of taunts frames the contest as both a test of strength and a continuation of their personal feud.

When Fooloks gives the signal, the two men rush at each other. The struggle is forceful and prolonged, with each attempting to overpower the other. Borka briefly gains an advantage, but Matt ultimately proves stronger. When the match ends, Matt stands as the winner and recognized chief, while Borka is left defeated and distressed. The assembled robbers accept the result, although the change of leadership is a mournful moment for some of them, especially Borka.

Settlement and Consequences

Matt’s victory does not mean that Borka is expelled or stripped of all standing. Instead, Matt addresses him as a brother and says that he may keep a chieftain’s name and reputation and continue leading his own men. The terms make the hierarchy explicit: Matt is the mightier chief, and his word now carries greater authority. Borka accepts this arrangement with a nod.

That evening, Matt holds a feast in the stone hall for the robbers of both bands. The contest therefore concludes not merely with an individual winner but with a public settlement and a shared celebration. Against the earlier hostility between the groups, the match provides a customary means of deciding authority while leaving room for the former rivals to remain connected as leaders within a united band.