Solvi enters two ancient games she has made in the category of “What revels are in hand? Is there no play, To ease the anguish of a torturing hour?” Solvi has this to say of her creations:
“Project
Royal Game of Ur and Hnefatafl
Both Games from ancient times. Largely found on the silk road and in viking homes.
Materials and techniques: (how was the item made and what materials were used):
Royal Game of Ur:
After watching a video on youtube by the British Museum I was intrigued by the game named above. I searched for a copy to buy but unfortunately everywhere was sold out. So after i was given some wood (MDF) i had decided to give wood working a go and make one.
My version of the Royal Game of Ur is made by hand, sawn and carved and coloured (with inks) the game pieces are wood circles that I found in the cheaps shops ($2 type ones – laser cut circles) and the dice were ones bought and I altered the according to the dice that were used on the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHjznvH54Cw As often as I do I did add some runes for my viking persona… a personal touch.
Hnefatafl:
Being more curious and loving board games I searched up more medieval games and came across a viking game. I saw it played on a program “vikings” (on netflix) looked it up and it was an actual game! So excited I started planning on how I was going to make it. I was given some leather so went ahead and made a board that converted into a pouch to hold all the pieces.
The Board itself is a leather round piece drawn together with a wooden toggle (wooden button) and waxed cording. The pieces once again were glued together laser cut circles from the shop. The board was drawn on with permanent ink pens.
Both games were recently played during a down time at Golden Flight 2019 by various people.
Persona Inspiration:
My persona is from the early Viking age.
Solvi’s husband is a merchant on the Silk road, is away for many months and often brings home goods for the love of his life. Solvi when not weaving or sewing goods to sell or give to the local populace, enjoys a good board game with close friends in the evenings.”