Norwegian medieval games

The Norwegian UNIMUS photoportal also contains photos of archaeological finds of  medieval board games, which will be shown in the photos below. Most of them concern game pieces. Basically, these game pieces can be divided into four different types: (1) chess pieces - as these are diverse game pieces that are usually more decorated; (2) flat backgammon type discs - sometimes decorated; (3) pawn-shaped game pieces; and (4) half-globose game pieces - the latter two are suitable for playing morris games or tafl-like games. Of the flat and half-globose types of game pieces many have been found and I will show only a few in this post. The game pieces were made from many different materials, including wood, bone, horn, antler, slate, stone, bronze and glass. Of course, also dice were found ubiquitously, but these look similar to the medieval dice found elsewhere and are not that interesting to show.

Disc-shaped game pieces

Two bone gaming pieces that could have been used for backgammon. Diameter is approximately 4 cm. 

A collection of medieval disc shaped game pieces made from bone, antler, stone and clay.

A clay wheel shaped game piece of ~4.2 cm.

Stone game disc from Trondheim.

Decorated bone discs from Bergen. 

Globose game pieces 

 

A half-globose game piece with a star on top.

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Glass viking Tafl stones. The drawing on top also shows the underside of the game beads.

Bone game pieces with decorations. 

The decoration is similarly made as the pips on medieval dice.

Bone game pieces and some dice. The underside of one of the game pieces is shown as well.

Pawn-like game pieces

 

A game piece made from horn.

A bronze playing piece from Eidfjord. 2.1 cm height.

A turned horn gaming piece. 

Two bone gaming pieces.

A gaming piece from horn

This is perhaps a tafl piece  that is inserted into a hole in the board,

 like some pieces that have been found together with tafl-like gameboards. 

Chess pieces

 

Two turned wooden chess pieces, one die and two other bone game pieces. 

  A backgammon piece and two chess pieces.

       

A set of chess pieces and some dice. details of the bone king/counselor, pawn and rook are shown. 

 Chess pieces: a bone pawn and a wooden rook (tower).

Chess pieces: The king from Tjøme is made of wood and rather large. 

It has a height of 9.5 cm and the base measures 3.4 by 2.6 cm.

Game boards

Some pieces of a broken gameboard for a tafl like game. There seem to be at least 15 spaces on the board. 

Some chessmen are set on the board, as well as some dice.

Part of a 11 by 11 gameboard for hnfatafl in which the positions of the king and his defenders are marked with an X.

 

A square plate of gray slate set into a wooden board (21.5 by 20.5 cm). The slate disc is engraved on both sides with two diagonal lines from corner to corner. At the intersection in the middle is a hole to a pin. In each of the four corners are 5 similar holes found, of which 4 are approximately square and cruciform clustered around a central hole. The holes are connected partly by the two diagonals and partly by a transverse line. It is assumed to be a gameboard from medieval times; the iron fitting with bolt and nut is a later addition.

Domino

 

This game piece is a bit of an enigma. Domino is supposed to be invented (by Fán Laí) in 1120 in China, and to have travelled to Europe in the early 18th century. Domino pieces and dice are related, as the number of pips shown on the tiles are the same as found on two six-sided dice. So where do these medieval domino pieces come from? Have they somehow been mis-dated? Or are they dice? By the way, there is another domino piece that does not fit in the 'correct' time slot: one game piece was found in the Mary Rose shipwreck.  

Afterword:  Erlend Telefon who was present at the excavation has mentioned that these pieces are actually post-medieval. There seems to be a mistake in the unimus database. See his comments below.

Two wrongly dated as medieval bone domino pieces from Rogaland, Karmøy, Nord-Rogaland, Avaldsnes, 86

Tinkling clay and tinkling glass

In 2013 I wrote on a curious 15th century French clay beaker with rings that made a tinkling sound. Supposedly this was to draw the attention of a barmaid to refill the beaker with whatever beverage that was in it. Some weeks ago I discovered some glass equivalents of the clay beaker. They date from the 17th century and now reside in the collection of the Corning Museum of Glass. Apparently this type of drinking vessel kept some popularity over the centuries.

 

An octagonal beaker made of colourless soda-lime glass with a thin trail wrapped around entire bowl; three loops are applied to alternating facets of the cup, from which movable rings are suspended. Origin Germany. Height: 8.8 cm, Width: 9.3 cm, Diameter: 8.5 cm.

 

(Left) A goblet made from heavily crizzled clear glass, producing a pale pink tinge. There are six loops applied around bowl of which three hold crimped rings. Height: 12.8 cm; Rim Diameter: 5.9 cm; Foot Diameter: 7.8 cm. (Right)  A goblet probably originating from the Netherlands dating between 1650 and 1700. The goblet is  made from colourless non-lead glass with six applied loop handles, four of them holding loose milled glass rings. Height: 17.6 cm; Diameter (rim): 8.4 cm, Diameter (foot): 9.1 cm.

Goblet made of clear glass with many minute bubbles with applied and tooled decoration. Three small loop handles arching over the rigaree band, three more loop handles holding rigaree rings applied to the top of the glass. Height: 16.7 cm; Diameter (rim): 7.9 cm, Diameter (foot): 8.9 cm.

Hypocras

 

 Two medieval woodworkers having a meal with bread and (perhaps a spiced) wine in the Tacuinum sanitatis (ca. 1390, Codex Vindobonen­sis Series Nova 2644, folio 64r, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, Austria).

During this time of year the modern spiced wine - Glühwine or bishopswine - can be ubiquitously found at Christmas markets. I personally do not like these mulled wines. That was also the case with the medieval version of it: Hypocras (the red wine version, named after the Greek Hippocrates) and Claré (for white wine). However, since our visit to Castle Loevestein in late November were we did some cooking demonstration this has changed. I decided to make some hypocras because it is an interesting process to show to the visitors and tell something on the spices in the wine. I used the recipe from the book 'Herrenspeis und Bauernspeis' by Peter Lutz. In his commentary he mentioned that everyone [visitors and re-enactors] was very enthusiastic about the taste. So perhaps his was a better recipe, and indeed it was...

Galangal (Alpinia officinarum) in the Tacuinum sanitatis (ca. 1390, Codex Vindobonen­sis Series Nova 2644, folio 32v, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, Austria).

Recipe

There is a great variation in spices used for hypocras, some (e.g. the one in the Forme of Cury) use cloves, mace, nutmeg, caraway seed and/or white pepper. Most of them contain sugar, cinnamon and ginger. The recipe from Peter Lutz, which is likely the same as the one given in 'the medieval kitchen - recipes from France and Italy' which originates from Le Ménagier de Paris (1393):

To make a lot of good hypocras, take an once of cinnamonde, known as long tube cinnamon, a knob of ginger, and an equal amount of galangal, pounded well together, and then take a livre of good sugar; pound this all together and moisten it with the best Beaune wine you can get, and let it steep for an hour or two. Then strain it through a cloth bag several times so it will be very clear.

(Left) A cinnamon merchant from the Tractatus de Herbis by Dioscorides (Ms Lat 993 L.9.28, Folio 36v  15th century,  Biblioteca Estense, Modena, Italy). (Right) Red wine merchant in the Tacuinum sanitatis. Note the alternative manner of wearing the hood of the man on the right (14th century, Codex 4182, Biblioteca Casanatense, Rome, Italy).

The German recipe uses a lot of wine, so you should adjust the amounts accordingly to what you want to make (and drink).

• 6 litre good red wine (cheap wine makes cheap tasting hypocras)
• 900 gram sugar
• 2 tablespoons powdered cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons powdered ginger
• 1 tablespoon powdered galangal

Grind the spices with a mortar and pestle (when using unpowdered spices). Chop bits of sugar from the sugar cone (see below) and hammer and grind it to powder (or use commercial crystallised sugar). Mix the sugar and the spices well in a bowl (large enough for the wine as well). Add the red wine and stir well. The spices will first float on top of the wine but after more careful stirring, they will mix with fully the wine. Peter Lutz recommends leaving the wine stay for a day, but we left it for a few hours as in the recipe of Le Ménagier de Paris. Filter the wine several times though a filtering (cheese) cloth until it is clear. Also here Peter Lutz deviates from the recipe by storing the hypocras in bottles for another 2 weeks before drinking; he also mentions that the hypocras can be stored for half a year in wine bottles. We did consume the hypocras directly after filtering, but also (like the glühwine) after heating (not boiling) the wine. The difference was remarkable: while the filtered hypocras tasted good, however, the warm hypocras was very much better as it intensified the harmonious taste of the spice mixture with that of the wine.

Careful mixing of the spices with the wine in the bowl. At the start the spices float on top of the wine.

Medieval sugar cones

Sugar, made from sugar-cane, was an available sweetener in the middle ages. In the 14th century sugar-cane plantations and factories existed in Sicily and later they also appeared elsewhere in the Mediterranean. Sugar syrup from the sugar cane was refined and crystallized into sugar loafs, which could easily be transported across Europe. Although the method to make sugar has changed since then, similar looking sugar cones can still be bought today. In Germany, small ones are known as Zuckerhut and used for a traditional (mulled wine!) drink; in Moroccan shops larger ones can be found which are used as a present during a visit and the sugar chunks are used to sweeten the mint tea. 

 

(Left)  A 14th century sugar funnel found in Kouklia, Cyprus. (Right) Cana melle (sugarcane) in the Tacuinum sanitatis (ca. 1390, Codex Vindobonen­sis Series Nova 2644, folio 92v, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, Austria).

It is also possible to make these sugar cones yourself. A very instructive film by Richard Signell can be found on YouTube. This prompted me to try it as well. I found that just water was not enough to stick the sugar crystals together and a some fine powdered sugar was needed as an extra 'glue'. 

The large white Moroccan sugar cone (the top already used for the hypocras) 

and two smaller homemade sugar cane cones.

(Left) Sugar cones from the Tractatus de Herbis by Dioscorides (Ms Lat 993 L.9.28, 15th century,  Biblioteca Estense, Modena, Italy). and (right) A merchant selling a sugar cone (Gilles de Rome, Livre du gouvernement des princes, early 16th century. Bibliotheque National de France, Paris, France, Arsenal, Ms. 5062, detail from fol. 149v.)

 

 

Having a medieval dinner (with hypocras) together with the archaeological team of castle Loevestein.

Double screw vise

A double screw vise where the screws look to be fixed to the rear jaw. Also, the legs are attached to the vise, making it a medieval version of the 'workmate' as we know it today. Blockbuch Eysenhuts, 1471. Herzogliche Bibliothek, Xyl III no. 8. Gotha, Germany.

The double screw vise is a piece of equipment for the workbench which saw its first appearance in the late 15th century. At least, that is the date of a woodcut that shows such a device. The double screw vise also appears in 'later' woodworkers books from Randle Holme (1688), Felibien (1667) and Moxon (1678). But apparently there is another medieval image showing what looks like giant double vises - or a mixture of a single screw vise with a parallel guide. I just found this image on Christopher Schwartz blog, and he found it in a book on planes. It seems to be an northern Italian drawing of around 1300. The Italian relation is confirmed by the two-handed plane in use on the first workbench. The screw vise is similarly constructed to that of the vise shown above.

Noah constructing the ark. Northern Italy. Six workbenches with screw vises are shown. In the middle is a stack of lumber with stickers drying, on the right wooden beams are being squared. On the workbenches other carpentry work is done: planing, sawing, using a chalk line, using axes.

 A bench and a closer look at the two planes. The large foreplane also has an Italian style grip at one end.

This detail shows clearly the difference between the two sides: 

a screw vise on the right, a square stick with pinholes on the left.

 The double screw vises of Holme, Moxon, Felibien (E. Crochet ou sergent. F. Estraignoirs. G. Presses de bois [wood press]) and Roubo, respectively. The Estraignoirs superficially look like the screw vise but are used differently as shown in the plate by Roubo below.

The estraignoirs are used with at wedge as clamps for gluing large boards. 

Detail of a plate from Roubo. L'art du menuisier (published around 1770).

I liked to make a (Moxon) double screw vise as an addition to my medieval workbench. Good discussions (these and these) on how to make these double vises can be found on Peter Follansbee's blog (and in his book 'How to make a stool from a tree'). Furthermore, Roy Underhill has a video show on the subject ("Two screws for you" with Christopher Schwartz) which shows the creation and the versatility of use of the double screw vise. Finally, Christopher Schwartz has a (free) article on how to make such a vise in the popular woodworking magazine. Although the construction is excellently described in the above mentioned sources, there are some details useful to add.

The first issue are the holes to be drilled in the jaws. The centre of the holes of the front and rear jaw have to be at the exact place - this is obvious and can easily be achieved using a jig with fences on the drill press. Less obvious is that the diameter of the holes of the front and rear jaw are different. The rear jaw hole has to be smaller, as the internal thread has to be tapped here (the front jaw is a clean hole and does not have a thread). As the wood threading kits are sold in non metric sizes, I had to work with a 1 inch set. This meant converting the holes to cm drills: 22 mm for the small hole and 25 mm for the large one. 

 

The set-up on the drill press. An mdf board with a long fence is clamped directly to the drill press, as is a short block acting as a second fence. The beech vise jaw is placed against the fence and clamped as well. The Forstner bit can be changed for a smaller or larger bit, while keeping the set-up and centre point at the same place.

The second issue is the bolt/dowel. As they recommend hardwood for the dowels, I used hornbeam. I first made the eight-sided handle and then turned the dowel on an electric lathe to 25 mm thickness. I used a jig to check to exact thickness, made of a drilled 25 mm hole in a piece of wood that was partially cut open. As the dowel needs to go smoothly through a 25 mm hole, but not too smoothly, a bit of sandpaper was held against the turning dowel. The end of the dowel was slightly chamfered.

A jig was used to check the dowel thickness to exact 25 mm.

The third issue is the threadbox (I use a Taiwanese one). It is made up of three parts: the smooth entry hole, the cutter, and the threaded exit hole. This construction means that you cannot go to the end of the handle. This is also not necessary as will be explained later. [But if you wish so, you need to dismantle the threadbox and remove the entry hole (do so after you already have made a start on the thread). The exit hole is then to only way to stabilise the cutting.] The dowel needs to be (good) lubricated with (linseed) oil to ensure a good cutting.

Having cut two handles I found out that they fitted too snug in the threaded hole of the vise jaw. It squeaked on every turn, and oil or wax did not help. Also much force was needed to make the handles turn. I had to redo the threading and set the cutter a bit deeper. This is best done when the threadbox is dismantled. Rethreading the handles did solve the too tight fit and they are working smoothly now.

The dismantled threadbox and the adjustment of the V-cutter.

 

The handle is held in a workbench vise. At start a slight downward pressure is needed, but later the threading tool guides itself. Once you have started cutting, always use a forward motion. If the cutter binds, back up no more than a quarter of a turn to clear any chips, then continue cutting new threads.

The final issue is where you stop making the tread on the dowel. The front jaw of the double screw vise has an unthreaded hole. This means that the dowel also does not need to be threaded here. I.e. the last 4.5 cm are just blank dowel.

The dowel at the front jaw of the vise does not need to be threaded.

My double screw vise has a length of 66 cm and a height of 10 cm. Each jaw is 4.5 cm thick and made of beech. The centre of the drilled holes are at 13 cm of each end, but placed off-centre at 5.5 cm. The handles of the hornbeam bolt are 10 cm long, the remainder of the dowel 19 cm (so in total a length of 29 cm) of which 14 cm is threaded. My double screw vise can be conveniently attached to my medieval workbench with two holdfasts. The vise works very good and is a really handy tool to have. In fact, I use it more often on my normal (non-medieval) workbench! 

 The double screw vise in use at castle Hernen.

The double screw vise on top of the bench without any holdfast. Two bench-stop hold the vise in place for planing.
 

The double screw vise fixed at the edge of the workbench with two holdfasts. Long wooden planks can now be held in place, for instance for sawing or dovetailing.