The provocative title of this article hints at a very common problem for archeologists and historians. When an artifact is found, they must wonder:
What is it? How was it used? Was it a common or a unique thing?
How is it related to other similar things?
What can we prove and how should we fill in the unknown bits?
Halatafl is just another of those challenges with more questions than answers.
Let’s start out with the evidence…
A church was first established in Ockelbo Sweden in the 14th century.
In the 1790s, a new church was being built on the site. A large carved slab of stone was found in the foundation wall of the old church, and it was incorporated into the new church at the time.
In the 1880s, historians rediscovered the stone and identified it as a very ancient Norse monument. Many drawings and rubbings were done, and translations attempted.
It was mostly covered with carvings of people and zoomorphic designs, with a few words of dedication to the person who commissioned the creation of the stone, along with three others. Nobody knows what became of the three other stones, but the famous Ockelbo Runestone was destroyed when the old church burned in 1904.
In 1932, a reproduction of the Runestone was made from the old drawings and is on display today in front of the new church.
Here’s why all this matters in regards to our interest: Carved on the face of the stone is an image of a two people playing a game.
What game could that be? Hnafetafl? Tablut? Fichneal? Or something new, maybe? Speculation runs wild based on the image itself.
The image could represent a tafl game similar to the Ballinderry Board — a discovery from Ireland that dates back to about the 9th century. It’s a common configuration for a gameboard at the time.
The runestone image doesn’t show any detail to indicate how many spaces are on their board, or how many pieces are being used. The original crafters of the stone probably assumed everyone would know what was being played there.
But ten centuries later … we’re still guessing.
Ancient Norse tales and sagas are full of references to board games — some specific, some annoyingly vague. And this includes references to Halatafl in the ancient documents.
One translation of the word Halatafl is “Heel Table.” This may refer to the handles found on some ancient game boards, and some scholars think this “heel” might be the peg at the bottom of the pieces that would fit into the peg-hole.
Another interpretation is that the word Hala is better interpreted as “Tail.” This lends a little credence to the notion that the game is similar to Fox and Geese — the classic predator-versus-prey game with roots in Medieval Europe.
The Norse had plenty of interactions with the populations of northern Europe, and they were fond of asymmetrical board games in which the players forces and goals were unequal. So the presence of a version of Fox & Geese would be very logical.
Then there’s the notion that this was a more balanced game, evenly matched forces meeting on a crowded battleground. Alquerques — often called the grandfather of American Checkers — originated in the middle east sometime in the early centuries of what we call “the current era.”
It was taken to the Iberian peninsula by the Moores in the 6th century, and over the centuries became popular throughout southern Europe.
In the 9th & 10th centuries, the Vikings of Scandinavia visited Iberia — raiding and plundering the coastal cities. They could well have brought back knowledge of the game of Alquerques, if not the components as well.
Can Alquerques be played on a typical tafl board? With a few movement lines added, there is no reason not to play a modified version.
So now we have several potential games that can be played on a tafl-style board, any of which might be historically valid. And we have rules which have been devised by game historians to recreate how these games might have been played 1,000 years ago or more.
A fairly common set of rules (which remain somewhat controversial) can be found with variations in movement and capture. This version — I call it the “armies” version — is a lot more like Alquerques, but with a definite Norse twist.
Each player commands a set of 22 pieces, and the board begins with the pieces set-up in the halves of the board as shown here. The spaces with squares are left empty. All of the pieces are of equal value and power.
They can be moved orthogonally forward towards the opposite side of the board, or sideways left or right.
If a piece is resting on one of the diagonal lines at the start of a turn, it may also be moved diagonally one space, but still always forward.
Alternatively, a piece may make a short jump over an opponent’s counter in a straight line to a vacant intersection adjacent to the counter being jumped. Jumps, like standard moves, are orthogonally forward or sideways or along the diagonal lines. And, as with moving, these jumps must always be forward or sideways.
Jumping is mandatory — if a jump can be made, it must be made. Pieces captured are removed from the board as they are jumped - not waiting until the end of the player’s turn. Chain jumps - multiple captures in one move - are also compulsory and direction may be changed after each enemy counter has been jumped, provided that the direction is always forward or sideways.
If there’s a choice of jumps, the moving player can decide which to make.
If a player does not make the compulsory capture on their turn by failing to notice it, the opponent may then remove the offending piece as a bonus before their next move. This is commonly called “huffing.”
Each player has two corner positions on their side of the board, sometimes called “Thrones.” A player may never move one of their pieces into a throne on their side of the board, but they may land there temporarily as part of a multiple jump and capture move.
NOW COMES A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN RULE SETS:
In some cases, occupying an opponent’s Throne instantly wins the game. In others, a player must occupy both opposing Thrones to win. And in others, landing on an opponent’s Throne promotes the piece to a more powerful “King” rank - not unlike in Checkers or Draughts.
These Kings can be signified by flipping a piece to its opposite face, stacking an extra piece on top of the promoted piece, or substituting a different King piece altogether. Kings move and capture as normal pieces but may do so in any direction.
Kings may also move and rest in any of the thrones on the board, including their own.
So, there you have it.
If you search diligently on the web or in reference books on the subject, you may well find more detailed research that mine. You will also probably find more arguments in favor of one interpretation or another for the words and pictures that have so intrigued game historians.
In my humble opinion, the “Armies” version has the least convincing historical support.
But whichever version you play…
… be sure to play every day!