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Hnefatafl print-and-play file with an elaborate 19x19 layout for 73 pieces. The board and pieces can be printed onto six sheets of A4 paper. A seventh sheet contains the assembly instructions and game rules. The rules are for the only known hnefatafl game on the 19x19 board, alea evangelii.
The Standard Rules of Hnefatafl. In the standard version of Hnefatafl, there are only two types of pieces: The King. The Pawns (Vikings) That’s all there is to know. Easy enough right? How the pieces are allowed to move. The king and the pawns move in exactly the same way. For the chess players out there: they move like the rook in chess.
HNEFATAFL RULES. Set up the board as shown above, the counter in the centre is the king and the counters surrounding him are his protectors. The darker counters are the attackers. The game is won by the defenders if the king to escapes to one of the corner squares marked with an X.
Hnefatafl is a game of unequal sides and different objectives. The King is placed in the centre of the board and the light defending pieces surround him in the pattern shown. The dark pieces are placed in 4 groups in a particular formation at the middle of each edge of the board.
This leaflet is a paraphrase of the rules developed by the Fetlar Hnefatafl Panel for their annual World Quick-play Hnefatafl Tournament. This version has been adopted by other tournaments around the world and is supplied with some commercial sets of the game.
If you click on the "Rules Leaflets" link on the "Related Pages" sidebar of this page (to the right on desktop screens, or at the foot of the page on Mobiles), you'll see a range of downloadable PDF leaflets for different versions of the game.
No one knows how the Vikings played hnefatafl – the Vikings didn’t write down their rules because they all knew how to play the game! These rules match what we know about the game from other sources, and they result in an enjoyable and challenging game. Setup: The black king is placed in the center space, marked with a square.
