Table Games

Yesterday's post mentioned two people playing tafl. This was one of several versions of Northern European board games that emphasized strategy.

"Tafl" (pronounced tavl) is the Old Norse word for "table," which is where English got the modern word.

Scandinavia used the term Hnefatafl (pronounced nevatavl) to distinguish from other games played with boards on a. table, such as chess. Old Norse hnefi means "fist" may be the origin of the term, so the whole name refers to the "board game of the fist." The suggestion of its origin is that the "king piece" was known as the fist.

It starts with a king piece in the center of the board. He needs to move to a corner or a side. The opponent who does not have the king has more pieces, and moves them one by one to try to capture the king or simply prevent him from achieving his objective. The king player can try to block the blocking of the opponent. The king player only has half the number of tokens used by the opponent.

There were several variations of the game. Ard Ri (Gaelic: "High King") was a Scottish version played on a 7x7 board. From what little we know of it, this version went fast with the advantage to the king's side, even though the king had half the number of defenders. The goal was to move to any side, not just a corner, which was a real advantage for the king.

Two Irish poems mention Brandubh ("black raven"), the Irish version, also on a 7x7 board, with five pieces against eight. Several ancient boards have been found.

When the Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus traveled to Lapland in the 18th century, he observed the Sámi people playing a board game they called tablut, played on a 9x9 grid. He wrote down the rules as he understood them and sketched the board, showing the pieces on the two sides having a different appearance (not colored differently, but one smooth and the other notched).

Then these games fell out of use. Examining references in poems and Linnaeus' account have led to a re-creation of the rules of the game, tested and refined for fairness. You can purchase sets on Amazon and other places, and learn Hnefatafl here.

But notice the layout of the pieces above. Looks vaguely like a cross, doesn't it? Hmm, I wonder if someone in the Middle Ages would look at that and turn it into something religious. There are four arms to the cross, and there are four Gospels, aren't there? Could this possibly be turned into a game about the Gospels?

Could and was. Tomorrow I'll introduce you to Alea evangelii, the "game of the Gospels."