The Vikings tried that, but they found that in practice, most of the time the more competent swordsman won. There were professional duelists who made a career o

The Vikings tried that, but they found that in practice, most of the time the more competent swordsman won. There were professional duelists who made a career of going around the Nordic world, making fake claims on farmers' land and challenging them to trial by combat to determine who was the rightful owner... You might get more interesting results if both sides had to be represented by a duelist of equivalent skill. ("If you cannot afford a champion, one will be appointed for you by the court"?)