Entertainment

Hnefatafl was one of several tafl games that the Vikings played. It was considered a noble skill to be good at hnefatafl.

The original rules have been lost, but modern variants are played using reconstructed rules based on those recorded by Linnaeus in 1732.

If you wish to try your skill at this game, you can play it on your computer HERE.

From the twelfth century onwards, storytelling was an important part of life on the farm. Icelandic farmers would read to the rest of the household in the evening while they did their chores. The stories that survive now are the Icelandic sagas many of which tell tales of the Viking Age. They are our main source for Viking Age history in Scandinavia.

The image shows a modern recreation of the Viking ball game, knattleikr. In addition to reading stories and playing board games, Vikings liked more physical activities like knattleikr. The Hurstwic website documents an attempt to reconstruct the rules for this game from the Icelandic sagas and later sources. Knattleikr was a dangerous game. The sagas relate how people were killed while playing it.

The photo shows a child's toy boat found at Winetavern Street, Dublin. Children had a range of entertainments including their own version of knattleikr which was called sveinleikr, but they also had toys. Toys would mostly have been wooden like this boat, or the toy swords, carved dolls and horses that have been found.

Games

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, as the proverb goes. The Vikings certainly worked hard, but they also had many pastimes to keep themselves entertained in their spare time. As the exhibits show, they played board games like hnefatafl and chess (ON skáktafl). The most famous example of playing pieces for these games is the Lewis gaming pieces that were found near Uig in the Outer Hebrides.

Sagas

Vikings told stories about their forefathers and legendary heroes that both entertained and ensured that they remembered their heritage. They also composed poetry. A Viking poet was known as a skáld and was expected to be able to make poetry up on the spot, often in praise of a king's deeds. For this he would be rewarded with presents of gold or treasure. Read some of these stories in the Icelandic Saga database or you could try the skaldic poetry instead.

Outdoors

Vikings were physically active, enjoying the ball game knattleikr and wrestling. They skied on wooden skis using just one long pole instead of two ski poles as modern people do. and they skated on bone skates made from the leg bones of horses, cattle or deer. Unlike modern skating technique, Vikings used a pole to help propel themselves while skating. They also enjoyed swimming, considering prowess at swimming to be a manly attribute.

Viking children learnt these skills too, but they also had their own toys like the toy boat in the exhibit, or wooden horses, dolls and swords.

 You can download a pdf of this page by clicking HERE