TÆFL.

[Beorn]

TÆFL

The game known to the Saxons as Cyningtaefl ("King's Table") or simply Tæfl (pronounce to rhyme with 'gavel') is derived from a common Germanic Tafl -game, and this was apparently one of the few board games known to the Saxons prior to the introduction of chess. The common Germanic Tafl is a development of the Roman game latrunculi ('soldiers'). One piece of supporting evidence--beyond the similarities of the games--is that Tæfl (meaning 'table') is derived from the Latin loan word tabula. The game is played on a chequered board, the number of squares in vertical direction being odd and equal to the number of squares in horizontal direction, so that there is a distinct central square (board-sizes include 7×7, 11×11, 13×13, 15×15 and 19×19 squares). The game simulates a battle between two unequal forces, a weaker force in the centre of the board (typically black or dark-coloured), surrounded and outnumbered by an attacking force (typically white or light-coloured) stationed on the perimeter of the board.




History & Discovery

Many of the ancient Scandinavian sagas make repeated mention of a game called Hnefatafl or Tafl, such as this one from the 'Voluspa' prophecy-poem in what is known as the Elder Edda (The 'then...will be found...which...in older days' seems to refer to a rebirth of Man after Ragnarök ):

'Then in the grass the golden taeflor ("table-men"),
the far-famed ones, will be found again,
which they had owned in older days.' (Poetic Edda, Hollander 12)

Or this one, from an Old Norse manuscript concerning the accomplishments of a gentleman:

'I can play at tafl,
Nine skills I know,
Rarely forget I the runes,
I know of books and smithing,
I know how to slide on skis,
Shoot and row, well enough;
Each of two arts I know,
Harp-playing and speaking poetry.'

--- Earl Rognvaldr Kali (Gordon 155, translated by Christie Ward )

One Norse source, the Hauksbók from the 14th century, presents a riddle which is paradoxically (and anachronistically) a clue to the basic rules of tafl:

'Who are the maids that fight weaponless around their Lord, the brown ever sheltering and the fair ever attacking him? King Heiðrekr, solve this riddle!...It is Hnefatafl, the pieces are killed weaponless around the king, and the red ones are following him.' (Magnuson & Morris)

This description of 'brown maids' sheltering the King and 'fair [men]' attacking matches the traditional dark colouration of the King and his men and the light colour of the other pieces.

Continued@Source

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[Osweo]

one of the few board games known to the Saxons prior to the introduction of chess.

Nine Men's Morris?

[Solwyn]

We have a tafl game at home!!!! My son loves playing it. We bought it at Little Mysteries when we lived in Nova Scotia. Nice handmade game set. It gets a lot of nice remarks when people see it.

[Eldritch]

Here's the only picture of my set I found online. I wish more people in this country played this.