[036] Making Games Every Day for a Month, Day 27 of 31: Fidchell (pt. 1)

"Aillil and Maeve [King and Queen of Connaught] played fidchell after that, and Froech began to play with one of his own people. Beautiful his fidchell set: the board was of white gold, and the edges and corners were of gold, while the pieces were of gold and silver, and a candle of precious stone provided light." - from The Cattle Raid of Froech, as quoted by Nigel Suckling

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At last, we come to the grand finale, the game to end all games. Fidchell. The Druid's Game. The Game of Wood Wisdom.

My friend Mia is finishing her Craft Education Internship here at North House Folk School. Her capstone project is simple and brilliant: she has felled an old Ash tree, and has given pieces of the tree out to craftspeople in the community. Everyone is making something out of their piece, and all will be displayed in an exhibition together.

I went with her into the woods to meet the tree. And what a beautiful tree it is! I cut some branches that I will be using as game pieces. My friends had gone out earlier to cut this cookie to use as the game board.

The game I will be making is Fidchell. This game is from ancient Ireland, and appears in many legends, myths, and historical documents. A true Fidchell board has never been found, as far as anyone can tell. No pieces are known to exist. The details of the game are a mystery.

The games historian Nigel Suckling has done an incredible job reconstructing the game of Fidchell from historical sources and from his thorough research into Irish mythology, numerology, geography, and martial history. I love this game so, so much. I have written about Fidchell on my own website , I have written about the game in Gnostic Technology vol. 0 (p.70-75), and my friend Maeve Gathje and I teach a class on making Fidchell sets out of leather and wood . I teach Fidchell to friends at every opportunity. It is a beautiful game.

The way I sometimes describe Fidchell is "Go for Druids." I think the philosophical and tactical depth of the game is truly immense. Everyone plays differently. The board is always surprising. The game can turn on you unexpectedly at any time.

The mythology of the game of Fidchell is that it was used as an initiation tool for Druids, to teach each other wood wisdom. Indeed, in the ancient Irish language, the word "fidchell" translates as "wood wisdom". If you play well, you are wood wise. Fidchell is both the lesson and the test. Spend time in the woods to play a beautiful game. Learn to play a beautiful game in order to better understand your time in the woods.

This cookie unfortunately started splitting, so I'm wrapping it up as tight as possible with some cord in order to keep it from splitting more. I don't know if it will work, but we will try our best. The Fidchell game board resembles a cracking log , so perhaps the crack will fit in with the aesthetic of the board in some way.

I've wrapped up the cookie in layers of paper bags and wood shavings in order to slow down the drying process. Let's hope it works. I am very excited for this project - it feels like this whole month of handmade games has been practice for this climactic Game of Games.

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"Peredur came to the castle, and the castle gate was open. And when he reached the hall the door was open, and when he went inside he saw a gaming board in the hall, and either of the two sets of pieces was playing against the other, and the one to which he gave his help began to lose the game. And the other side gave a shout, just as if they had been men. Then he grew angry and took the set of pieces on his lap and threw the board in the lake." - The Magic Gaming Board (1100s), Welsh, as quoted by Nigel Suckling