These game pieces found in Birka, a well-known emporium in Scandinavia, offer great insight into Nordic leisure activities.¹ Through their material, these pieces indicate the high-status nature of game playing. In order to craft these, a local elite would’ve had to pay for imported raw glass (as raw glass wasn’t a commodity produced in Scandinavia) and then would’ve had to melt the glass and refashion it into the beautiful pieces.² Furthermore, the nature of the games supports the idea that leisure and board game playing was a luxury available only to the elite. These game pieces were designed for a strategy game called hnefatafl, the most popular board game in the Nordic world. This is a military strategy game where one side (with fewer pieces) must move its king unmolested from the center of the board to the edge, no matter the cost. The other side (with more pieces) must break through the enemy’s defenses and kill the king.³ By focusing on strategy, these board games served multiple purposes. One, it kept the current leaders sharp in their military strategy and critical analysis skills. Second, it taught the progeny of these elites (who would eventually become the leaders themselves) proper strategy and taught them about the values inherent in Nordic military thought. These game pieces, while remarkable on their own, are even more remarkable as indicators of a larger gaming culture in Scandinavian society. These strategy games were highly regarded, as evidenced through the high-status material used to create the playing pieces. Additionally, they would’ve educated the elites on military strategy and would’ve instilled societal values in the next generation of leaders. Because of these impacts, game pieces such as the ones found in Birka are paramount to our understanding of Nordic culture.

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