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Definition 2024


tafl

tafl

Icelandic

Noun

tafl n (genitive singular tafls, nominative plural töfl)

  1. a class of Scandinavian two-player board games featuring a distinctive 2:1 ratio of playing pieces, with the addition of a kingpiece to the lesser side
  2. (idiomatic) Icelandic chess (skáktafl)
  3. (obsolete) a board game played in Viking society, the predecessor of the medieval game hnefatafl

Usage notes

  • Tafl has been translated simply as chess in some translations of the Icelandic sagas, though chess was not yet known to the Vikings.

Derived terms

Related terms

See also