Hnefatafl Game Piece
This object is a game piece from a game called Hnefatafl. The piece is conical shaped, with a flat bottom and a notch running along the bottom. It is made of lead and copper alloy and is only a couple centimeters tall. Found in North Lincolnshire, England, the piece is a light color, consistent with the rules of the game that determine two opponents, one light and one dark.[1] Its suggested date is late early medieval period, between 800 and 1000, which makes sense because the first viking raids in England started in the late 700s. These game pieces are relatively common, but the board on which it is played is much less so. The board is a square grid of varying number of boxes (sometimes 7 x 7, 11 x 11 or 13x13) and boards made of stone and wood have been recovered. [2] However, wood breaks down more easily over time so game pieces are found more often than the boards are and thus are used to track the expansion of the game.
Interestingly enough, Hnefatafl has been mentioned in viking sagas a couple of times, indicating it was an important and probably highly prevalent game, especially among higher class individuals. In the sagas, both board games and outdoor games such as wrestling and play-fighting often led to violent outcomes. In one saga, a man kills his mother after she scolds him for playing the game and poking his eye out with a playing piece.[3] These sagas tell us about the importance of the game in that it wasn’t a ‘game’ as we traditionally think of one. Instead, these games had very real outcomes and consequences and, in the sagas at least, they weren’t to be taken lightly. Therefore, though widespread, these games were in fact very important to the elite ruling class. Hnefatafl, in particular, was a way to prove possession of mental toughness and prowess in battle as it relied on players being on an offensive or defensive side.[4] Thus, games had a ritual aspect to them; they represented values important to Norse in this era of expansion.
