Hnefatafl - Viking Chess

Hnefatafl games are a family of ancient Nordic and Celtic strategy board games, which were most likely based on a Roman game called " Ludus Latrunculorum." Game variants were played across Northern Europe, from Iceland to Sweden and were eventually replaced by chess in the 12th century.

The rules for Hnefatafl were written down in the 18th century and translated to English in the early 19th century. However, this translation had many errors, and new rules were added, creating a modern family of this game.

In Hnefatafl, a king and a small force of defenders occupy the middle of the board while an attacking force twice as big occupies the edge of the board. The objective of the king is to escape to the end, while the attackers attempt to prevent this. Pieces move orthogonally, like rooks in chess, and capture is achieved by surrounding a piece on opposite sides. There are variants to the game.

This attractive, hand-made board comes with a set of rules and variants and colored wood playing pieces.