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From the earliest of times (it was played even in ancient Egypt). This game has been known as “the game on the
other side of the board”. Several boards found in both Viking and Anglo-Saxon contexts have had HNEFATAFL
on one side and NINE MEN”S MORRIS on the other side. However, the game has also been found in rather
unexpected places - ships timbers, loose boards, benches, lumps of rocks and later even on church pews and
tiles.
We do not know which of the “tafi” names was used for this game just after Anglo-Saxon times. The name
MERELS comes from the low latin word “merelus” meaning a token counter or coin.
The game remains well known even today but we do not know the rules of the Viking or Anglo-Saxon version. It
is indicated that a die may have been used. Perhaps only particular scores, for example, even numbers, gave the
right to move. However, the way it is played today is as follows:
Players start with 9 pieces off the board. Each player takes it in turn to place one of his pieces on one of the
intersections. If a player forms a line of three, one of the opposing pieces is removed from play by taking it off the
board. Wherever possible the piece taken should not be taken from an existing line of three.
When all pieces have been placed on the board, the players move the pieces around one intersection at a time.
On completion of a line of three an opposing piece is taken as before. Forming a line of three is known as
forming a “mill”. There is nothing to stop a player forming a mill, moving a piece away and then moving it back
again in subsequent moves. The winner of the game is the player who removes all of the opponents pieces.
A simpler version of NINE MEN’S MORRIS is the game of THREE MEN’S MORRIS familiar to most people today,
albeit in a modified form, as “Noughts and Crosses”. It is played in the same way as NINE MEN’S MORRIS, except
the board is made up of three lines of three positions (or on the intersections of a 2x2 section of a larger squared
board). The winner is the first person to form a mill. Pieces may not move diagonally, or jump over other pieces.
This may be the game known as HRAEOTALF (quick-tafi).