Alea evangelii

Diagram illustrating a variant of the Tafl game, from the 12th century manuscript CCC MS. 122

Alea evangelii (Game of the Gospels[1]) is a member of the tafl family of games. Known from an illustration and account in Latin in an eleventh-century Irish manuscript[1][2][3] where it is given a Christian scriptural context,[4] the game is played on the intersections of an 18 by 18 squares game board (i.e. a board identical to a standard 19 × 19 grid board for playing Go). This is larger than that of most tafl games.

The manuscript, Corpus Christi College ms. 122 (folio 5 verso), attempts to give scriptural meaning to a hnefatafl variant, and, though the layout is unwieldy, its proportions are also found in a game board fragment unearthed at Wimose on the Danish island of Funen.[2]

  1. ^ a b Helmfrid 2005, p.9.
  2. ^ a b Murray 1951, p.61.
  3. ^ "Alea evangelii ", boardgamegeek.com
  4. ^ "Game-Playing, Moral Purpose, and the Structure of "Pearl"", Michael Olmert, The Chaucer Review