Drinking Games

Image by Montreal Artist James Kerr

Article by Baron Aurddeilen-ap-Robet

Puzzle Jugs, Fuddling Cups, and Pot Crowns were very popular drinking games during the Middle Ages. All required the imbiber to figure out how to drink from a vessel that appeared to be impossible to do so.

In the case of Puzzle Jugs, the sides and neck of the jug were perforated, and the lip had several spouts. The earliest example is known as the Exeter Puzzle Jug which dates to 1300 AD, and was originally made in Saintonge, Western France. To drink from a Puzzle Jug, it is neccesary to close all the spouts but one with your fingers. The puzzle is to figure out which ones.

Images courtesy of Royal Albert Museum, UK

Fuddling Cups are a three dimesntional puzzles consisting of several cups joined together by interlacing handles. The trick here is to drink the contents of all the cups without fuddling (spilling). To do this successfully, the cups must be drunk from in a specific order.

Images courtesy of Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, and the Victoria & Albert Museum, UK

A Pot Crown consisted of a hollow ring shaped base from which rose four cups and four tubes. The tubes normally met in the middle to form a crown with a central spout, though some had spouts at the sides. After the cups were filled, the Pot Crown is placed on top of an unmarried person. Then any admirers of the crowned person attempt to empty all the cups. The first person to do so wins the hand of the person wearing the crown, or at least the opportunity to court them. Of course, the wearer of the crown can at anytime stand perfectly still and allow someone to drink from the center spout which is the easiest way to drain all the cups.

Images: Sources Unknown

Card Games

15th Century Burgundian Playing Cards – Metropolitan Museum of Art

The rules for the following medieval card games have been reconstructed by Master Michel Wolffauer and Justin du Coeur.

Laugh and Lie Down is pairing card game mentioned as early as 1522,  and described in Francis Willughby’s Volume of Plaies, c1665. It is the earliest known example of a game of the Fishing family, as Willughby rightly remarks, “There is no other game at cards that is anything a kin to this.” The name seems to come from the fact that the first player or two who “lays down” their cards is met with laughter from the others still in the game.

Gleek (sometimes spelled Gleeke, Gleke) is a trick taking card game mentioned in several publications during the first half of the 16th century. The earliest is known reference is from a book titled The chirche of the euyll men and women, published in 1522.

Losing Loadum (or Loosing Lodum or Lodam) can currently be traced back to at least 1586 where it is mentioned in the Earl of Leicester’s household account book. In 1591 it is mentioned in John Florio’s Second Fruites to be Gathered of Twelve Trees. The 1653 English translation of Francois Rabelais’ Gargantua and Pantagruel lists a game called “losing load him”, whereas the original French from 1535 lists “à qui gaigne perd”. This translates roughly to “who gains loses”; a description which fits this game, but does not positively identify it.

Viconti-Sforza Tarocchi Deck

Game of Tarot is a 15th Century trick taking game.

Dice Games

Dice Playing – Image from  a Manuscript ca 1524, Tours, France

Article by Baron Aurddeilen-ap-Robet

Raffle: The game being played in the image above is called “raffle,” a game won by rolling three matching numbers at once, similar to modern slot machines. There seems to be some debate over the winning throw of three 3s, for both players point at the dice, but the peddler’s smile suggests he has the upper hand over his disgruntled wealthy opponent. Perhaps he is using weighted dice, a common trick still used today.

Inn and Inn: The period rules for this dice game are described in the 1670  book “Compleat Gamester”. However, the period description is a bit ambiguous, and many of the reconstructions I have seen do not, in my opinion, reflect what the author intended. So I have made my own reconstruction which has been extensively play tested at Pennsic, and other SCA events. Inn and Inn is played in rounds. Each player has the opportunity to roll once each round. Play begins with all players placing an ante of one coin into a common pot. Each player then take turns rolling 4 dice. If they roll a double of any kind, they are considered “INN”, and remain in the game; If they do not, they are “OUT” for the remainder of the game. If at anytime a player rolls a pair of doubles they are considered “INN & INN”, and all following players for the current round, and any future rounds must also roll a pair of doubles, or they are “OUT” for the remainder of the game. Once the dice have been passed around to the all the players, one round is complete and a new round begins. All players that remain in the game place another coin in the pot, and begin taking turns rolling again. The last player that remains in the game is the winner and claims the entire pot. Note: rolling a triple counts the same as a double.

Hazard: is an early English game played with two dice; it was mentioned in Geoffrey Chaucer‘s Canterbury Tales in the 14th century.

Any number may play, but only one player – the caster – has the dice at any one time.

In each round, the caster specifies a number between 5 and 9 inclusive: this is the main. He then throws two dice.

• If he rolls the main, he wins (throws in or nicks).
• If he rolls a 2 or a 3, he loses (throws out).
• If he rolls an 11 or 12, the result depends on the main:
  • with a main of 5 or 9, he throws out with both an 11 and a 12;
  • with a main of 6 or 8, he throws out with an 11 but nicks with a 12;
  • with a main of 7, he nicks with an 11 but throws out with a 12.
• If he neither nicks nor throws out, the number thrown is called the chance. He throws the dice again:
  • if he rolls the chance, he wins;
  • if he rolls the main, he loses (unlike on the first throw);
  • if he rolls neither, he keeps throwing until he rolls one or the other, winning with the chance and losing with the main.

This is simpler to follow in a table:

Main	Nicks	Outs	Chance
5	5	2,3,11,12	Anything else
6	6,12	2,3,11
7	7,11	2,3,12
8	8,12	2,3,11
9	9	2,3,11,12

The caster keeps his role until he loses three times in succession. After the third loss, he must pass the dice to the player to his left, who becomes the new caster.

Shut the Box: Though this game is very fun to play, and is readily available to be purchased from modern sources, there is no documented or physical evidence that “Shut the Box” is a medieval game.

14th Century Dice – Image courtesy of the Journal for Archaeology of the Low Countries, Belgium

Riffa (3 dice, 2 or more players)

All players put down a stake on the table to form a pot. Players roll high die to see who goes first, then play proceeds clockwise around the table. Players take turns rolling 3 dice until they roll a pair. When that happens the pair is set aside and the player re-rolls the third dice. The value of the third die is added to the value of the pair and that is the player’s score for the round. Once all the players have had a turn the round ends and the scores are compared; the highest score wins the pot.

As Many on One as of Two (3 dice, 2 or more players)

All players put down a stake on the table to form a pot. Players roll high die to see who goes first, then play proceeds clockwise around the table. The first player rolls one die first and takes note of the value. They then have to match that value by rolling the other two dice. So if the first dice is a 5, then the player must roll 1&4 or 2&3. The First player to match their first roll wins the pot. If they do not match, then the dice pass to the next player. If everyone has a turn and no one matches on the first round, then additional coins are added to the pot by each player and the next round begins.

Pair and Ace (3 dice, 2 or more players)

All players put down a stake on the table to form a pot. Players roll high die to see who goes first, then play proceeds clockwise around the table. Each player takes turns rolling the dice. The first player to roll a pair on two dice plus a 1 on the third dice wins the pot. If everyone has a turn and no one rolls a pair and a 1, then additional coins are added to the pot by each player and the next round begins.

Triga (3 dice, 2 or more players)

All players put down a stake on the table to form a pot. Players roll high die to see who goes first, then play proceeds clockwise around the table. The first player to roll a 15, 16, 17, 18, or 3,4,5,6 or a triple of any value wins the pot.

Passe-dix or Passage (3 dice, 3 or more players)

Passe-dix was specified by Matthew’s gospel (Matthew 27:35) as the dice game the Roman guards played under the site of the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. Known as Passage in English.

Pass-dix begins with the Caster rolling a single die. The players then decide what they believe will
be the outcome of rolling another die. Will it (A) equal 10, or lower, or (B) total 11, or higher. Each player finds a player who is willing to wager against them, and they negotiate their individual bets. If there are more players wagering on one side than the other, an individual may cover the wagers of more than one opponent, but there is no obligation to do this. If no one is willing to wager on one side, or the other, the Caster re-rolls the first die. Once the bets are placed, the Caster rolls the second die. If the roll of the second die brings the total to 11 or over, the players who wagered on that outcome win, and the third die is not used. If the total is still below 10 the betting partners may increase the wagers if their opponent agrees. (Once the original bets are agreed upon players cannot decrease their original wagers, nor are they allowed to change sides.) The Caster then rolls the third die if necessary, and wagers are settled based on the total of the three dice. The dice are then passed to a new Caster for the next round. The Caster may also make wagers, but except for being the one to roll the dice, the Caster has no advantages over other players.

Additional information on Early Dice Games can be found in the following pdf.

dice-gamesDownload

Racing Games

Image by Montreal Artist James Kerr

Article by Baron Aurddeilen-ap-Robet

Racing Games are the oldest, and most widely dispersed category of board games. The object of a Racing Game is to be the first to move all one’s pieces to the end of a track.

The Game of the Goose or Goose game is a board game where two or more players race pieces around a track by rolling dice. The aim of the game is to reach square number sixty-three before any of the other players, avoid obstacles such as the Inn, the Bridge and Death. The game’s origins are uncertain. Some connect the game with the Phaistos Disc because of its spiral shape.

The Royal Game of Goose, Late 16th Century – Courtesy of the Metroplitan Museum of Art, Pfeiffer Fund

This Game of the Goose or Goose game board shown above seems to be the oldest survival of a game first mentioned in Italy in 1480. Popular at the Medici court of Florence, it is documented in June 1597 by John Wolfe who attested that the game was played in London. It is thought to be the prototype for many of the commercial European racing board games of recent centuries. The inlay technique of the present board is associated with 16th century Gujarat in North India following a printed Italian design. Such precious objects were highly treasured in Europe. They often served as diplomatic gifts or objects of display in the Kunstkammer. On the reverse, the board is laid out for chess and a non-European form of backgammon.

For more information on the Game of Goose and how to play, use the following link.

Game of Goose Rules (link), reconstruction by Dagonell the Juggler

Tafl (Hnefatafl) and the Norse Sagas

The Ballinderry Tafl Game-board, courtesy of the National Museum of Ireland

Tafl (pronounced tabl) is the older, and Hnefatafl the later name of a board-game which was already played by the Scandinavian peoples before 400 AD. it was carried by the Norsemen to Iceland, Britain, and Ireland, and spread to Wales. It was the only board-game played by the Saxons, after the introduction of chess into England in the eleventh, and Scandinavia in the twelfth century, Hnefatafl fell out of use except in remote and isolated districts, the last mentions of the game as still played are from Wales in 1587, and Lapland in 1712.

Hnefatafl was mentioned in several of the Norse sagas, including Orkneyinga saga, Friðþjófs saga, Hervarar saga, and others. These three period treatments of Hnefatafl offer some important clues about the game, while numerous other incidental references to Hnefatafl or Tafl exist in saga literature. Sagas help indicate the widespread use of board games just by mentioning them—although rituals varied in the Viking period from region to region, there were some underlying basics to culture. The fact that the sagas mention board games indicates this use because the sagas are read and understood by a very large audience. In Orkeyinga saga, the notability of Hnefatafl is evident in the nine boasts of Jarl Rögnvald Kali Kolsson, who tops his list with skill at Tafl. In Friðþjófs saga, a conversation over a game of Hnefatafl reveals that the king’s men are red and the attackers white, and that the word hnefi does indeed refer to the kingpiece. The most revealing – and yet most ambiguous – clues to Hnefatafl lie in a series of riddles posed by a character identified as Odin in disguise (see Gestumblindi) in Hervarar saga. One riddle, as stated in Hauksbók, refers to “the weaponless maids who fight around their lord, the [brown/red] ever sheltering and the [fair/white] ever attacking him”, although there is controversy over whether the word weaponless refers to the maids or, as in other versions, to the king himself, which may support the argument that a “weaponless king” cannot take part in captures. One may also note that the assignment of the colours of brown or red to the defenders and fair or white to the attackers is consistent with Friðþjófs saga. Another of Gestumblindi’s riddles asks, “What is that beast all girded with iron, which kills the flocks? He has eight horns but no head, and runs as he pleases.” Here, it is the answer that is controversial, as the response has been variously translated as: “It is the húnn in hnefatafl. He has the name of a bear and runs when he is thrown;” or, “It is the húnn in hnefatafl. He has the name of a bear and escapes when he is attacked.” The first problem is in translating the word húnn, which may refer to a die (as suggested by the former translation), the “eight horns” referring to the eight corners of a six-sided die and “the flocks” that he kills referring to the stakes the players lose. Alternatively, húnn may refer to the king, his “eight horns” referring to the eight defenders, which is more consistent with the latter translation, “He has the name of a bear and escapes when he is attacked.” Ultimately, the literary references prove inconclusive on the use of dice in Hnefatafl.

1100 year old Viking Glass Tafl pieces found at Birka, Image courtesy of the Swedish History Museum

Use this link to learn more about the Rules and Variations of Tafl

Three-In-A-Row Games

Article by Baron Aurddeilen-ap-Robet

Morris or Merels is a strategy board game for two players dating at least to the Roman Empire.

Nine Man Morris – Image form Alfonso’s Book of Games, ca 1283

The game peaked in popularity in Medieval England. Boards have been found carved into the cloister seats at the English Cathedrals at Canterbury, Gloucester, Norwich, Salisbury, and Westminster. These boards used holes, not lines, to represent the nine spaces on the board—hence the name “nine holes”—and forming a diagonal row did not win the game. Another board is carved into the base of a pillar in Chester Cathedral in Chester. Giant outdoor boards were sometimes cut into village greens. In Shakespeare‘s 17th century work A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Titania refers to such a board: “The nine men’s morris is filled up with mud” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act II, Scene I).

According to Daniel King, “the word ‘morris’ has nothing to do with the old English dance of the same name. It comes from the Latin word merellus, which means a counter or gaming piece.” King also notes that the game was popular among Roman soldiers. In some European countries, the design of the board was given special significance as a symbol of protection from evil, and “to the ancient Celts, the Morris Square was sacred: at the center lay the holy Mill or Cauldron, a symbol of regeneration; and emanating out from it, the four cardinal directions, the four elements and the four winds.”

The game of Morris has 4 variations; 3-Man, 6-Man, 9-Man, and 12-Man. Use the following link to learn more about Morris and its rules; The Game of Morris

 

Chess

Article by Baron Aurddeilen-ap-Robet

Chess is by far the most frequently illustrated game on the pages of Medieval manuscripts. There are so many images and variations that it would take an entire lifetime to post everything that can be told about this eternal game. So I am just going to post a few pretty pictures, and provide some links to website where you can learn more.

Marguerite d’Alençon and her brother François d’Angoulême playing chess. Échecs amoureux. Bibliotheque Nationale de France ca. 1496-1498.

 

Amber Chessboard of King Charles I,  attributed to the artisan Georg Scheiber of Konigsberg, Prussia – ca 1616

 

12th Century Isle of Lewis Chess Set – British Museum, and National Museum of Scotland

Chess Links:

Saint Thomas Guild

Chess Wiki