Jorvik Viking Museum
Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 2:56 am
Found this account from 1999 of a visit to Jorvik Viking Museum in York, UK:
In the museum they had people playing Viking characters and a couple of them did an excellent job. We learned to play Hnefatafl (pronounced nef-tafle which means ‘Knave’s table’). It’s played on a 13x13 square board and the attacker has 24 knaves while the defender has 12 knaves and one king. Knaves can move as many spaces horizontally or vertically as they wish until they run into an edge or another piece. The king can only move one or two spaces at a time. The object is for the defender to get their king to one of the corner squares and for the attackers to capture the king. Knaves are captured by surrounding the captured knave on two opposite and adjacent squares. The king must be captured by surrounding him on all four squares (unless the King is against an edge). For purposes of capture and movement the courners are assumed to be occupied by white. Strategy for the attacker involves first defending all the corners. The white (defender) pieces start in a diamond shape surrounding the king on the center square. The browns (attackers) start in four groups of six: on each side of the board five men are centered along the side, then on man sits in front of the others in the center of the group.
(from http://www.leafpile.com/TravelLog/Europ ... gland.html )
It sounds like an odd variant - the large board and the slow king would make for long and possibly tedious games, and I can't see how the king has any hope of reaching a corner before the attackers block them all off! I met some folks from Jorvik at a Viking Festival once, they explained their rules to me and I remember they sounded unfamiliar (I only knew the Fetlar rules in those days!).
Incidentally, it had never occurred to me before that the mysterious word "Hnefi" could be cognate with "Knave" - Sounds plausible, and I also found this etymology for "Knave" (n.) O.E. cnafa "boy, male servant," common Germanic (cf. O.H.G. knabo "boy, youth, servant," Ger. knabe "boy, lad," also probably related to O.E. cnapa "boy, youth, servant," O.N. knapi "servant boy," Du. knaap "a youth, servant," M.H.G. knappe "a young squire," Ger. Knappe "squire, shield-bearer"). The original meaning might have been "stick, piece of wood" [Klein]. Sense of "rogue, rascal" first recorded c.1200. In playing cards, "the jack," 1560s.
Am I imagining it, or did that etymology suggest that "knave" might once have meant a piece of wood... a gaming piece, for instance...?
In the museum they had people playing Viking characters and a couple of them did an excellent job. We learned to play Hnefatafl (pronounced nef-tafle which means ‘Knave’s table’). It’s played on a 13x13 square board and the attacker has 24 knaves while the defender has 12 knaves and one king. Knaves can move as many spaces horizontally or vertically as they wish until they run into an edge or another piece. The king can only move one or two spaces at a time. The object is for the defender to get their king to one of the corner squares and for the attackers to capture the king. Knaves are captured by surrounding the captured knave on two opposite and adjacent squares. The king must be captured by surrounding him on all four squares (unless the King is against an edge). For purposes of capture and movement the courners are assumed to be occupied by white. Strategy for the attacker involves first defending all the corners. The white (defender) pieces start in a diamond shape surrounding the king on the center square. The browns (attackers) start in four groups of six: on each side of the board five men are centered along the side, then on man sits in front of the others in the center of the group.
(from http://www.leafpile.com/TravelLog/Europ ... gland.html )
It sounds like an odd variant - the large board and the slow king would make for long and possibly tedious games, and I can't see how the king has any hope of reaching a corner before the attackers block them all off! I met some folks from Jorvik at a Viking Festival once, they explained their rules to me and I remember they sounded unfamiliar (I only knew the Fetlar rules in those days!).
Incidentally, it had never occurred to me before that the mysterious word "Hnefi" could be cognate with "Knave" - Sounds plausible, and I also found this etymology for "Knave" (n.) O.E. cnafa "boy, male servant," common Germanic (cf. O.H.G. knabo "boy, youth, servant," Ger. knabe "boy, lad," also probably related to O.E. cnapa "boy, youth, servant," O.N. knapi "servant boy," Du. knaap "a youth, servant," M.H.G. knappe "a young squire," Ger. Knappe "squire, shield-bearer"). The original meaning might have been "stick, piece of wood" [Klein]. Sense of "rogue, rascal" first recorded c.1200. In playing cards, "the jack," 1560s.
Am I imagining it, or did that etymology suggest that "knave" might once have meant a piece of wood... a gaming piece, for instance...?