Hnefatafl: the Game of the Vikings

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Could you explain how the Jarlshof board given on this page has been 'restored'. From my own online search for the gaming board discovered at Jarlshof I could only find a picture of a piece of slate with scratched lines, with insufficient detail to be able to say that it was 9x9, had any marked squares, nor that there was any decorative circle. http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-100-042-678-C

Dariusz Stachowski - 17:47, 16/10/2022 - Historic Board Markings, Part 1

Your site is great. Very helpful. My daughter and I just started playing thanks to you. Love the game. We even made our own board and pieces.

Matt - 03:09, 16/08/2022 - Hnefatafl: the Game of the Vikings

I tried playing several game of Celtic Royal Chess with a friend who is a very, very experienced gamer. We came to the conclusion that the rules given here are essentially not playable. The uncapturable king overpowers the barons while the princes have to do nothing except stay out of the way. We tried modifying the rules and one try yielded a game that seemed it might have some reasonable balance. We made the king capturable, took away the long move of the barons and gave it to the king. We have to try it some more, but, at the moment, it seems too have some promise.

Wendell Coleman - 05:42, 06/08/2022 - Celtic Royal Chess: a Game Inspired by Hnefatafl

This is a great list but I was wondering if you could provide your sources on tome of these finds? I'm particularly interested in the Baldursheimur set

Kayna - 22:21, 23/05/2022 - Archaeological Finds

Rule nine seems illogical. Is it something that has been dragged over from Tablut for no good reason other than it was authentic to that particular game? As far as I can see, rule 9 does not apply in the Fetlar rules(thank god). Other than that, the Copenhagen rules do seem to be an improvement.

Nigel Gregory - 09:59, 26/04/2022 - Copenhagen Hnefatafl Rules

Java is gone the way of the dodo is there any way to download your applet to be run through my computer?

Jonathan - 09:43, 22/03/2022 - Play Hnefatafl Here

What a charming blog you have here! My wife and I were recently discussing this situation with regards to Brandub, which you review so aptly here: http://www.cyningstan.com/game/125/brandub We generally find Tafl games appealing for their evocative ability to bring a person back in time to the days of warriors armed with swords and shields, and the idea of moving safely between enemies has never felt satisfying to either one of us. It's very obvious that the option to move between enemies is interesting, so I can't begrudge most Tafl players that they retain the option to move between enemies. But that is not the way that we play. In all of our games, the dictum "Move first, kill first" holds. By this I mean, if you can eliminate one or more enemy pieces by making a move, then you may freely do so. After these have been removed, your man survives if not surrounded; otherwise, he dies in turn. The rationale here is that a person may leap into a raging battle and take his enemies by surprise, but on not account would he expect to survive after walking directly between two enemies standing alert and undistracted. (Whether this unbalances Tafl games in favor of the king or the attackers, we've never noticed.)

Mark Graybill - 02:19, 20/03/2022 - An Enemy in Your Midst, and What to Do About It

Hello my query is to ask if a king is blocked from moving on three sides by his defenders and an attacker moved into the fourth spot; O X k o O Is the king just able to stay allowing the defender to carry on with his strategy or is he classed as not being able to move so forcing the defender to move, enabling the king to be able to move going forward? O X k o O (Key o=defender, x=attacker, k=King) I hope this makes sence, Thank you.

Jason - 14:50, 20/02/2022 - Capturing the Enemy

I’ve been looking for this exact set but I’ve only found a few images of it and I have no clue where to get it. Does anyone have any ideas on where I can buy this particular set?

Drake - 04:26, 07/02/2022 - Brandubh by Floyd and O'Flaherty

So wait can you capture a piece between the wall (outside of the board) and another piece

Jeffery - 13:07, 06/02/2022 - Brandub

As there are no existing 'original' rules for brandub I like to experiment with various setups when I play it. Instead of starting out in a cross, I place the 4 defenders on adjoining squares on the diagonal from the king. I then put the attackers catty-corner so they kind of surround the corner. This opens the game up for faster play: the king can move out more quickly, while the defenders must move away from the corners lest they be soon captured, dissipating their numerical advantage.

Michael T Geary - 16:31, 19/01/2022 - In Praise of Brandub

Dear Damian, Is it impossible to get the king surrounded, whilst he stays near the mid-block/castle? In a 11x11 hnefatafl with legacy rules. With regards Thijs lous

Thijs lous - 07:15, 12/01/2022 - Ealdfaeder Taefl Rules