Before chess swept away its popularity, the Viking board game hnefatafl—and its variations—were popular. We know this from sagas, runestones, and archaeological digs. The details of how to play, however, were lost until 1732. That was when Swedish botanist, Carl Linnaeus, visited Lappland and wrote down the rules of a game he was introduced to—it was the last clue game fans needed to figure out how to play hnefatafl.

For a printable version of this project, click here.

• 24 dimes

• 13 pennies

• Plasticine or sticker

• Downloadable game board

Click here to download a PDF file of the gameboard that you can print out and use. If you have trouble opening the gameboard file, please ask an adult for help. You will need to have Adobe Reader on your computer in order to view the file.

1. Set up the game as shown and decide who controls which army (pennies or dimes). The plasticine (or sticker) is stuck to the penny in the middle of the board—that’s the King. The dimes are supposed to capture the King. The pennies are trying to move the King safely to any square at the board’s edge.

2. The dimes start the game. Players take turns moving a piece. Pieces move like rooks on a chessboard—they are not allowed to move diagonally. You can move as many squares as you like, but never over another piece. A player can capture an enemy warrior by trapping it between two of his own pieces. Once a piece is captured, take it off the board. If, however, you move a piece between two enemy warriors on purpose, it’s not captured.

3. To capture the King, the dimes must surround him with four warriors. When the King is captured, the dimes win. If the King manages to escape to any square at the side of the board, the pennies win.