Besides the central square, several other squares, in a radially symmetrical pattern, are highlighted by a cross. What the function of these additional crossed squares is is anything but clear. They could simply have been decorative, playing no role in the game. They could have indicated the edges of a smaller board, allowing players to use the same board for playing 11 x 11, 9 x 9 and 7 x 7 versions of hnefatafl. Or they could indicate 'safe squares' for the king. I opted for the latter hypothesis for my 'Trondheim' set.
I wanted metal pieces, and decided on using screws and nail on metal washers, painted gold (for the attackers) and silver (for the king and his defenders).
As to the board, I wanted something to really set off the gold and silver pieces, make it sparkle as much as possible, so I thought of using a mirror. The gold and silver pieces reflecting in the mirror could make the set quite spectacular. And to increase this 'mirror effect', I ordered small mirror tiles to use for the squares themselves, with gold mirror tiles for the crossed squares of the Trondheim board.
So that's the board done!
I really like how the mirror tiles appear to be almost floating on the mirror.
How does it look with the pieces? Judge for yourself. I took one set of pictures in the garden ...
... and one set of pictures in the dining room.
I feel it came out even better than I envisioned at the start, and I feel this is by far the best hnefatafl set I made myself.
