Short answers, pulled from the story.
The word tafl appears in Old Norse texts as a generic term for board games before becoming the specific name for an asymmetric strategy game played across Northern Europe. By the end of the Viking Age, Scandinavians used hnefatafl to distinguish their game from chess, tables, and fox games. The etymology likely combines hnefa meaning fist with tafl meaning table.
Hnefatafl dominated medieval Scandinavia from the late eighth century through one thousand CE before fading as chess gained popularity. Most versions featured an eleven by eleven or thirteen by thirteen grid with twenty-two defenders facing forty-four attackers. A wooden board discovered near Trondheim dates back to the twelfth century and measures eleven squares wide.
Archaeologists have found evidence of these games in Ukraine and Scotland alongside Norway and Sweden. One example includes a single horn piece found alongside a wooden board in a ship burial at Gokstad in southeastern Norway. Twenty-two whalebone pieces turned up in Orkney suggesting widespread play among Viking communities.
Medieval sagas mention hnefatafl repeatedly offering clues about gameplay mechanics and social context such as red king's men facing white attackers during conversation over a game. Odin disguised as Gestumblindi poses riddles in the Saga of Hervör and Heidrek containing ambiguous references to rules. Translations vary whether húnn refers to dice or the king himself.
The first major attempt to revitalize tafl occurred when The Viking Game published its booklet in 1981. This version relied on mistranslated Sámi tablut rules from 1732 translated by Troilius in 1811. Innovations limited the king's escape possibilities to corners instead of entire edges compensating for imbalance.
Tim Millar from Somerset UK won both 2011 and 2012 using Fetlar rules while Mario Aluizo dominated Los Angeles US winning consecutively from 2018 through 2020 then again in 2022 and 2024. Plamen Draganov secured titles in Sofia Bulgaria during 2021 and 2023. Leo Kolassa won Formby UK in 2016 while Alexandre Bour claimed victory in Châlons-en-Champagne France the next year.