Tafl

TAFL

An Ancient Viking Siege Game

Tafl (pronounced TAH-bl) dates back to before 400 AD, and was played throughout Scandinavia, Iceland, Germany, England, Wales and Ireland. It remained popular until the 17th. century, when it was gradually supplanted by chess. The word tafl is probably derived from the Latin tabula, which also referred to a board game. The game was also sometimes called hnefatafl, meaning 'king's table'.

Historical tafl boards could have anywhere from 49 (7X7) to 324 (18X18) cells or squares. The squares were sometimes checkered, while other boards had only the centre and corner squares distinguished. Some tafl boards placed the pieces on the intersections of the lines rather than in the squares themselves. Others had holes for pegged pieces to be placed in.

This board is loosely based on a 10th. cent. one found in Ballinderry, Ireland (the border patterns point to it's manufacture in the Isle of Man). The Ballinderry board had peg-holes, and two handles so that it could be held between two people. It used a 7X7 grid, although most tafl rules refer to either a 9X9 or 11X11 board.

Literary references to the game agree that the game was played by two people with an unequal number of playing pieces. There were two types of pieces described - the 'tablemen' or pawns (usually 24), and a single king. The side with the king had half the number of men as the opposing side. The king was placed in the centre, surrounded by his men. They in turn were surrounded by the men of the opposing side. All pieces had the 'rook's' move, and pieces were captured by surrounding them on two sides.

Little more was known about the game until a 18th. cent. manuscript by Linnaeus, containing a detailed description of a certain Lapp game, was found. The game was called tablut, and the description of the rules was consistent with other references to tafl. The rules and board layout I have provided here are based on this account, with some minor changes to make the game fairer and easier to play.