The first book of its kind, Hnefatafl: The Sacred Game of Britain, Ireland and Scandinavia discusses the ancient games of Northern Europe, particularly the games now known as Hnefatafl. Beginning with the history of ancient games across the world and their divinatory uses by traditional cultures and ending with the modern history of Hnefatafl, this book covers the history, geographic spread and mythology surrounding Hnefatafl. All three of the main cultures of Northern Europe are covered, British, Irish and Scandinavian, and the games of each group are discussed (Gwyddbwyll, Fidchell, Brandubh, Tawlbwrdd, Buanbach and Alea Evangelii) with revealing excerpts from the legends and sagas of these groups as well as archaeological finds and the contentious conclusions surrounding them. A chapter on the mythology of Hnefatafl is included as well as chapters on the rules and notated example games to help any reader along with their skills and knowledge of Hnefatafl.
About the Author: Jonathon George was born in Tacoma, WA in 1980 and moved with his family up to Alaska in 1982. Staying there for fourteen years, Jonathon grew up surrounded by the beautiful and majestic Alaskan wilderness. Eventually Jonathon and his family moved back down to Washington and has lived there ever since. Always interested in other cultures and languages Jonathon eventually attended the University of Washington, Seattle and majored in linguistics and minored in archaeology. Originally Jonathon studied Mesoamerican languages and cultures he eventually began to study the ancient languages of Northern Europe, particularly Old Norse, Old German, Middle High German and studied Old Irish and Modern Welsh on his own time. The archaeological and linguistic disciplines were instrumental in learning and writing about Hnefatafl, particularly in the difficulties inherent in attempting to show the heredity of games through archaeological and written sources. Jonathon began to study the Celtic versions of the game (Gwyddbwyll, Fidchell, Brandubh and Tawlbwrdd) after reading the Mabinogion in 2006 and started researching the other types of Hnefatafl at the same time. This book is the result of 10 years of study and play of the game and Jonathon is very excited to put it out into the world for other people to read and increase their knowledge of Hnefatafl.