Editing Tafl games (section)

{{short description|Group of asymmetric boardgames}}
{{redirect|Brandub|the King of Leinster|Brandub mac Echach}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2013}}
{{Infobox game
|title = Tafl
|italic title = no
|image_link = ZHNEFA.jpg
|image_size = 250px
|image_caption = A reconstructed hnefatafl [[gameboard]]
|years = 4th–12th centuries
|genre = {{ubl|[[Board game]]|[[Abstract strategy game]]}}
|players = 2
|setup_time = < 1 minute
|playing_time = Typically 5–20 minutes
|random_chance = None
|skills = [[Strategy game|Strategy]], tactics
|AKA = Hnefatafl
}}
'''Tafl games''' ({{IPA|non|tavl|pron}}), also known as '''hnefatafl games''', are a family of ancient [[Northern European]] [[Abstract strategy game|strategy]] [[board game]]s played on a checkered or latticed gameboard with two armies of uneven numbers. Names of different variants of tafl include hnefatafl, tablut, tawlbwrdd, brandubh, [[Ard Rí]], and [[alea evangelii]]. Games in the tafl family were played in [[Norway]], [[Sweden]], [[Denmark]], [[Iceland]], [[Great Britain|Britain]], [[Ireland]], and [[Sápmi]].<ref>[[#Reference-idMurray1951|Murray 1951]], p.&nbsp;56, [[#Reference-idHelmfrid2025|Helmfrid 2025]], p.&nbsp;2 [[#Reference-idDuggan2015|Duggan 2015]]</ref> Tafl gaming was eventually supplanted by [[History of chess|chess]] in the 12th&nbsp;century,<ref name="Murray">[[#Reference-idMurray1951|Murray 1951]], pp.&nbsp;56–57.</ref> but the tafl variant of the [[Sámi people]], tablut, was in play until at least the 18th century. The rules for tablut were written down by the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]] in 1732, and these were translated from Latin to English in 1811. All modern tafl games are based on the 1811 translation, which had many errors. New rules were added to amend the issues resulting from these errors, leading to the creation of a modern family of tafl games. In addition, tablut is now also played in accordance with its original rules, which have been retranslated.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tafl.cyningstan.com/page/170/tablut |author-first=Damian |author-last=Walker |title=Tablut |website=Hnefatafl – the Game of the Vikings}}</ref>