Page "Tafl games" Paragraph 5

Hnefatafl was mentioned in several of the medieval sagas, including Orkneyinga saga, Friðþjófs saga, Hervarar saga, and others.

These three period treatments of Hnefatafl offer some important clues about the game, while numerous other incidental references to Hnefatafl or Tafl exist in saga literature.

In Orkeyinga saga, the notability of Hnefatafl is evident in the nine boasts of Jarl Rögnvald Kali Kolsson, who tops his list with skill at Tafl.

In Friðþjófs saga, a conversation over a game of Hnefatafl reveals that the king's men are red and the attackers white, and that the word hnefi does indeed refer to the kingpiece.

The most revealing – and yet most ambiguous – clues to Hnefatafl lie in a series of riddles posed by a character identified as Odin in disguise ( see Gestumblindi ) in Hervarar saga.

One riddle, as stated in Hauksbók, refers to " the weaponless maids who fight around their lord, the ever sheltering and the ever attacking him ," although there is controversy over whether the word weaponless refers to the maids or, as in other versions, to the king himself, which may support the argument that a " weaponless king " cannot take part in captures ( see # Balance of play ).

One may also note that the assignment of the colors of brown or red to the defenders and fair or white to the attackers is consistent with Friðþjófs saga.

Another of Gestumblindi's riddles asks, " What is that beast all girded with iron, which kills the flocks?

He has eight horns but no head, and runs as he pleases.

" Here, it is the answer that is controversial, as the response has been variously translated as: " It is the húnn in hnefatafl.

He has the name of a bear and runs when he is thrown ;" or, " It is the húnn in hnefatafl.

He has the name of a bear and escapes when he is attacked.

" The first problem is in translating the word húnn, which may refer to a die ( as suggested by the former translation ), the " eight horns " referring to the eight corners of a six-sided die and " the flocks " that he kills referring to the stakes the players lose.

Alternatively, húnn may refer to the king, his " eight horns " referring to the eight defenders, which is more consistent with the latter translation, " He has the name of a bear and escapes when he is attacked.

" Ultimately, the literary references prove inconclusive on the use of dice in Hnefatafl.