Expanding the Northern Reaches: the Soderfjord League Games
by Marc SaindonI won't win points for originality, but basically this is Soderfjord organizing its own version of the Olympics (or the Highland Games).
Ragnar the Stout organizes the games to turn Jarls from enemies to competitors., in an effort to give Soderfjord Jarldoms a common cultural institution among warring Jarls, to both secure the Nordhartar Defence League against Heldannic incursion (as the Jarls remember, the decentralized Heldannic Freeholds were conquered by the knights in matter of a few years) and to conveniently make the League a stepping stone to his own greater power as a future monarch.
Naturally, the games have core norse components, some being tough guy challenges like throwing logs and drinking, but other challenges might require more agility and balance, like running on raised shields or oars, glima wrestling, etc. The competition would probably be held in early summer (after the annual Spring raids) and Jarls would sponsor one or more champions to represent them in the contests. Winning the League Games might also count as a one Epic Task required for the Quest for Immortality, especially if the event becomes bigger and incorporates delegations from Ostland and Vestland.
Qualifying as a local champion and gaining a Jarl's sponsorhip might be an early quest for lower level characters, providing something else than the usual dungeon crawl or murder investigation.
(picture from: https://viking.style/what-did-the-vikings-do-for-fun/