hnefi²

nafnorðkarlkyn

a, the king in a kind of chess played by the ancients, ii. 68: the game was called hnefa-tafl, , which is variously spelt—nettafl, 20, and hnettafl, 144 A (which are contracted or assimilated forms); hneftafl, 186, vi. 29, i. 284; hnottafl (a bad form), i. 476 in a spurious verse, and in 10; hnefa-tafl (the true form), i. 67. The game is best described in Friðþ. S. 3, and in one of the riddles in (where however the rhymed replies are not genuine): ‘Who are the maids that fight about their unarmed lord, the dark all day defending, but the fair slaying?’ The players were two, as in chess; there was only one king (hnefi), here called the ‘unarmed lord;’ the pieces (töflur) were white and red, the white attacking, the red defending the hnefi; þat er hneftafl, enar dökkri verja hnefann, en hinar hvítari sækja, i. 474; þat er húninn í hneftafli, 476: pieces made of silver are recorded in S., of walrus-bone in For the general use of this game, the dialogue between the two brother kings, ,—teflig hneftafl betr, era þat minna vert en afl þitt; Sigurðr Ormr í auga ok Hvítserkr hvati sitja at hneftafli, i. 284: whenever tafl is mentioned, this particular game seems to be understood, the gullnar töflur and tefldu í túni of the ; earl Rögnvald’s verse in 61; and the fatal game of chess between king Canute and earl Ulf in Roeskilde 1027 was probably a hneftafl. We see from that it was still played at the beginning of the 12th century, but in after times it was superseded by the true chess (skák); both games were probably of the same origin.

Skammstafanir og tilvitnanir

m.karlkyn (e. masculine)
n.hvorugkyn (e. neuter)
ch.chapter.
l. c.loco citato.
cp.compare.
e. g.exempli gratia.
A. D.Anno Domini.
COMPDSsamsett orð (e. compounds)

Fas.Fornaldar sögur. (C. II.)
Gullþ.Gull-Þóris saga. (D. II.)
Grett.Grettis saga. (D. II.)
Mork.Morkinskinna. (E. I.)
Fms.Fornmanna sögur. (E. I.)
Krók.Króka Refs saga. (D. V.)
Hervar. S.Hervarar saga. (C. II.)
Vsp.Völuspá. (A. I.)
Orkn.Orkneyinga saga. (E. II.)