Meanings
- historicaluncountableAn ancient Norse board game.
The Saxon game of Hnefatafl came from Denmark, a game which was played there about A.D. 400 and brought by them to Iceland and Britain. An English manuscript written during the reign of King Athelstan, 925-40, contains a diagram of this game.
1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 115
Origin
- Old Norsehnefatafl“board game of the fist”
- Englishhnefatafl
Borrowed from Old Norse hnefatafl (“board game of the fist”), made of hnefi (“fist, the king piece of the hnefatafl game”) and tafl (“a table, a board game”). The historical Norse coined this term to differentiate it from other board games, such as skáktafl (“chess”), kvatrutafl (“tables”), and halatafl (“fox games”).
More words from Old Norse
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
hnefatafl. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hnefatafl
“hnefatafl.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hnefatafl. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hnefatafl,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hnefatafl.
Source: hnefatafl on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.