Orm Stórolfsson, also known as Orm Stórolfsson the Strong
( 1000 CE), was an Icelandic
strongman
In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or similar circus performers who performed feats of strength. More recently, strength athletics, also known as strongman competitions, have grown in popularity. Thes ...
who gained considerable attention during his lifetime for extraordinary feats of strength. He is documented in the
Icelandic saga
The sagas of Icelanders ( is, Íslendingasögur, ), also known as family sagas, are one genre of Icelandic sagas. They are prose narratives mostly based on historical events that mostly took place in Iceland in the ninth, tenth, and early e ...
book
to have walked three steps with the mast of
Ormrinn Langi, weighing and in length, on his shoulders before breaking his back.
According to legend, it took some 50 men to place the ship's mast on his shoulders due to its extreme weight and it was a nightmare to keep the log in balance because of its immense length.
On 31 January 2015, the record, which had stood for over 1,000 years, was beaten by fellow Icelander
Hafthór Júlíus Björnsson at the World's Strongest Viking competition in Norway. Hafthór carried a , log for five steps in freezing cold weather and famously yelled ''"History!"'' after being elated with his record breaking performance.
On 7 July 2019, as a part of the History Channel television series
The Strongest Man in History
The Strongest Man in History is a History Channel original series, which premiered on July 7, 2019. It is a reality-show that takes four strongmen, Eddie Hall, Brian Shaw, Robert Oberst, and Nick Best around the world investigating strongmen lege ...
,
Brian Shaw
Brian Keith Shaw (born March 22, 1966) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He could play both guard positions, but wa ...
,
Eddie Hall
Edward Stephen Hall (born 15 January 1988) is an English media personality, actor, boxer, and former strongman.
He won the World's Strongest Man 2017 competition. Hall has also won national competitions such as UK's Strongest Man, Britain's S ...
,
Robert Oberst
Robert Oberst (born December 20, 1984) is a retired former American professional strongman competitor. He is a yearly competitor of the World's Strongest Man competition and a finalist in the 2013 and 2018 World's Strongest Ma ...
and
Nick Best
Nick Best (born November 3, 1968) is an American professional strongman competitor and world champion powerlifter.
Powerlifting
Prior to competing in strongman, Best won the USAPL National Powerlifting Championships in the 125 kg class in 1 ...
attempted to lift a log. Neither Shaw, Hall nor Oberst managed to budge it while Nick Best managed to momentarily hold it for half a second but failed to move the log even for a single step.
The name of
Vormsi island (Swedish: ''Ormsö'' – "Orm's Island") in
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
possibly refers to Orm Storolfsson.
Ajalugu - Vormsi Talumuuseum
/ref>
References
Icelandic strength athletes
11th-century Vikings
11th-century Icelandic people
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