Hnefi

Signification du mot vieux norrois "hnefi"

Comme défini par le dictionnaire vieux norrois-anglais de Cleasby & Vigfusson :

Le mot vieux norrois hnefi peut signifier :hnefi

hnefi

a, m. the king in a kind of chess played by the ancients, FaS. ii. 68: the game was called hnefa-tafl, n., which is variously spelt—nettafl, Gullþ. 20, and hnettafl, Grett. 144 A (which are contracted or assimilated forms); hneftafl, Mork. 186, FmS. vi. 29, FaS. i. 284; hnottafl (a bad form), FaS. i. 476 in a spurious verse, and in Krók. ch. 10; hnefa-tafl (the true form), FaS. i. 67. The game is best described in Friðþ. S. ch. 3, and in one of the riddles in Hervar. S. (where however the rhymed replies are not genuine): ‘Who are the maids that fight about their unarmed lord, the dark all day defending, but the fair slaying?’ The players were two, as in chess; there was only one king (hnefi), here called the ‘unarmed lord;’ the pieces (töflur) were white and red, the white attacking, the red defending the hnefi; þat er hneftafl, enar dökkri verja hnefann, en hinar hvítari sækja, FaS. i. 474; þat er húninn í hneftafli, 476: pieces made of silver are recorded in Gullþ. S., of walrus-bone in Krók. l. c. For the general use of this game, cp. the dialogue between the two brother kings, Mork. l. c.,—teflig hneftafl betr, era þat minna vert en afl þitt; Sigurðr Ormr í auga ok Hvítserkr hvati sitja at hneftafli, FaS. i. 284: whenever tafl is mentioned, this particular game seems to be understood, e. g. the gullnar töflur and tefldu í túni of the Vsp.; cp. earl Rögnvald’s verse in Orkn. ch. 61; and the fatal game of chess between king Canute and earl Ulf in Roeskilde A. D. 1027 was probably a hneftafl. We see from Mork. l. c. that it was still played at the beginning of the 12th century, but in after times it was superseded by the true chess (skák); both games were probably of the same origin.

hnefi

COMPDS: hnefatafla, hneftöfl, hnettöfl, hnettafla.

Inscription runique possible en futhark jeune :ᚼᚾᛁᚠᛁ
Les runes du futhark jeune ont été utilisées du 8ème au 12ème siècle en Scandinavie et dans leurs colonies à l'étranger

Entrées similaires :

• Hnefi (II)