The Game of Sovereignty

Author(s): Lauren Dye

Source: Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium , 1998/1999, Vol. 18/19
(1998/1999), pp. 34-41
Published by: Department of Celtic Languages & Literatures, Harvard University

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20557334

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 The Game of Sovereignty

Lauren Dye
To a reader of Celtic mythology, it must soon become apparent
that to the Celts, existence was not a mono-dimensional affair, but one
which could be experienced within the context of any of the three worlds
which they recognized as being part of their reality. While inhabiting the
world with which we are most familiar, that of mundane day-to-day
existence, early Celts also acknowledged two other parallel planes known
as the "Otherworld," the land of the Sid or fairy folk, and the
"Underworld," or land of the dead.1 The multi-levelled nature of Celtic
existence is nowhere better exemplified than in the recurring imagery of
the gaming board found throughout both Irish and Welsh mythology. In
keeping with one of the oldest of Celtic traditions, which holds that all
things exist within a three-fold structure, its purpose can be seen as three
fold, depending upon from which of the three levels of existence one
wishes to perceive it. On the physical level, it can be considered an
amusing diversion to pass the time. Intellectually, the board game is a
marvellous tool to calibrate the mind and allow a future military leader to
fine-tune his strategic skills. On a more spiritual level, however, we find a
mystical key that can unlock the door between this world and the
Otherworld, and, in so doing, influence the reciprocation of cause and
effect which the Celts believed existed between these two worlds.
From the quantity of gaming pieces found by archaeologists in
Celtic tombs, it is apparent that the board game indeed figured
prominently in Celtic culture. The Irish called it fidchell or brandubh, the
Welsh, gwyddbwyll and tawlbwrdd. There has even been found a game
called tab lut in Sweden which is thought to be similar.2 Despite attempts
to re-create the method of play, scholars of Celtic Studies have been
mostly unsuccessful. Nigel Suckling described the results of his attempt to

1 John Matthews, Taliesin: Shamanism and the Bardic Mysteries in Britain and
Ireland (London, 1991), 47-8.
2 Alwyn and Brinley Rees, Celtic Heritage: Ancient Tradition in Ireland and Wales
(London, 1961), 154-5.

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 LAUREN DYE

re-construct the game in a book that he entitled Fidchell (Celtic Chess)

which he self-published in 1989.3

The Gaming Board

One such board game was unearthed at the site of a lake dwelling
in Westmeath, in Ireland, and other boards have been found in the shape
of a human with arms and legs extending from the comers.4 In his
Dictionary of Irish Mythology, Peter Berresford Ellis says that a brandubh
board found in a gravesite in Co. Westmeath contained holes carved into
the board in order to accommodate movable pegs.^

The Gaming Pieces

The game involved two sets of men: the king and his companions,
and the men of the opposing army. In early Irish literature, the
Mythological Cycle includes the story known as "The Wooing of ?ta?n"
The hero, Midir, supplies the gaming board with which to engage the king,
Eochaid, in a game of fidchell that will ultimately win Midir die hand of
the king's own wife, ?ta?n. This game is described in the text as follows:
...the board was of silver and the men
were of gold, a precious stone glittered in
each comer of the board, and the bag for
the men was woven in rounds of bronze.

Among the tales of C?chulainn, Irelandfs greatest hero, there exists the tale
called "Bricriu's Feast", in which one of the main characters, L?egaire, is
challenged by a giant who grabs him in his huge fist. The possible
appearance of the playing pieces themselves can be inferred as the text
reads:
...and the giant ground him between his

3 John Matthews, 248.

4 Caitl?n Matthews, Arthur and the Sovereigntyy<rfBritain (London, 1989)* 244.
5 Peter Berresford Ellis, A Dmonaryqffi^ 1987), 46.
Jeffrey Gantz, trans., Early Irish M0 1931), 52/
.::--:-:^

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 THE GAME OF SOVEREIGNTY

palms the way afidchell piece would be

ground by mill stones.7

This indicates that the pieces were flat. In Cush Co. in Limerick and in
Mentrim Lough, Co. Meath, objects were found that are thought to be
gaming pieces.** They are domino-shaped, carved from bone, decorated
with abstract La T?ne-style carvings on their surfaces, and their flat shapes
are consistent with the description in the quote above.
Alwyn and Brinley Rees provide clues as to the names of the
playing pieces in their book, Celtic Heritage. They tell us that in the
Fenian or Ossianic cycle of Irish literature, the word Fern referred to the
Irish common people. We also encounter the term fianaigheacht or "lore
of the Fiana". Subsequently, the word fian was used to denote the gaming
pieces used mfldchell, a game which itself most likely resembled chess.
In literature can be found such phrases as ...their fian have checkmated our
king" (commonly called the bran?ri)?

Object of Game/The Play

Oral tradition hints that the object of the game for the king was to
win and retain his kingdom by defeating an opponent often identified as
the "Otherworldly King." The object of the game for the opponent was to
capture the king and take possession of the center of the board. ^ In the
notes following his book Early Irish Myths and Sagas, Jeffrey Gantz
translates fidchell as 'wood-sense' and defines it as: "...a board game,
similar to chess, in which one side's king attempts to escape to the edge of
the board while the other side's men attempt to prevent him."11

8
Gantz, 247.
Barry Raftery, Pagan Celtic Ireland: the Enigma of the Irish Iron Age (London,
1994) 121, 166.
9 Rees, 62.
10 Caitlin Matthews, 87.
11 Gantz, 52.

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 LAUREN DYE

History/Origin
Mythology tells us that it was the Irish God, Lugh who invented
the game of fidchell}2 In the tale of "The Battle of Mag Tuiredh," Lugh
is received into the Hall of Tara, then presided over by N?adha, king of
the T?atha de Danaan, and it is here that the game is first encountered. ^
Subsequently, it seems to become a requirement that all heroes acquire a
mastery of it, as seen in the stories of Midir, "Bricriu's Feast" from the
C?chulainn saga, and later in the Welsh story "The Dream of Rhonabwy,"
which involves King Arthur of the Britons. In Eugene OCurry's 1873
publication On the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish, he relates
that the fidchell board of Crimthan, brought from a secret place in the sea
and then hidden in the Rath of Uisnech, was one of the "Three Chief
Artifacts" of Ireland, along with the "Crown of Brian" and the "Crown of
Loegaire" in Sid Findacha in Ulster.14 Coincidentally, the gwyddbwyll
board, whose Welsh name means 'wood-wisdom', was one of the
"Thirteen Treasures of Britain," each of which was a prize to be won in a
hero's quest for Sovereignty.15 In Welsh Arthurian tradition, the

12 Rees, 143.
13 Pronsias MacCana, Celtic Mythology (Feltham, 1983), 87.
Rees, 301.
15
For the purposes of this paper, the term Sovereignty does not refer to a concept
that is merely the exercise of political power. Instead it refers to one which is also
sacred and sacramental; to the actual marital partnership between one who by
virtue of his physical, mental and spiritual superiority is selected, by a deity
whose nature is thought to be female, to serve as king of his tribe and protector of
the land which sustains them. It is due to the magnitude of the concept and the
impact it must have had on the tribe and the land they inhabited that I have chosen
to capitalize the word Sovereignty throughout this paper, as have Rees and Rees
throughout their book Celtic Heritage (see, for example, pages 73 and 75). Within
this context, the term Sovereignty refers to both the union itself, and those united
in the marital covenant, i.e. the king and Mother/Goddess/Earth. This theme is
discussed in depth in Caitlin Matthew's Arthur and the Sovereignty of Britain, as
well as in Proinsias MacCana's Celtic Mythology (see pages 92-3, and the chapter
on Sacral Kingship).

37

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 THE GAME OF SOVEREIGNTY

possession of these treasures, though guarded by Merlin in a glass house

on Bardsey Island, was considered to have passed to Arthur as part of the
"regalia" of kingship because he was the king of the Britons and the
consort of Sovereignty. Part of the function of the king was to serve as
liaison between the worlds and guardian of the keys which opened the
lines of communication between those worlds. ^

Symbolism & Function in Mythology

It is evident in Celtic myth, both Irish and Welsh, that the board
game is on another level a combat for Sovereignty of the land. It is a battle
that is magical and metaphoric, and one that goes on incessantly; if not in
linear time, then in the atemporal reality of the Otherworld. The quest for
the Sovereignty of the land is not one in which a candidate triumphs and
then sits back resting on his laurels, but one which must be continually
and vigilantly maintained and nurtured. His is a position of stewardship;
he is the consort of that Sovereignty which is a metaphor for the land
itself, and the champion is privileged to hold his position only so long as
he is fit to do so. When he is no longer found capable of carrying this
responsibility, when his strength fails or his moral fiber diminishes so that
he can no longer champion the land, another is chosen by the forces of
Sovereignty to replace him. It is for this reason that the champion, whether
he is Arthur, Owain, Midir or C?chulainn, is continually challenged as to
his worthiness. In the times of the ancient Celts, this challenge was often
made manifest in the form of the gwyddbwyll, brandubh, or fidchell game.
Although author Caitlin Matthews states in Arthur and the Sovereignty of
Britain that this game always seems to appear in myth "...whenever
serious matters of Sovereignty are debated . . .,"17 it can also be seen as
one of the many Otherworldly tools by which one attains knowledge and
enlightenment. It may have served as a form of divination by which the
tribe might realize what was to come during the ensuing year. Holding

16
Caitl?n Matthews, Arthur and the Sovereignty of Britain, 42. Also, Mabon and
the
17
Mysteries of Britain (London, 1987), 51.
Caitl?n Matthews, Arthur and the Sovereignty of Britain, 87.

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 LAUREN DYE

one's position at the center of the board, or failing to do so, might have
been interpreted as a sign of coming prosperity, or lack thereof.
Ellis states that one of the names of the board game, brandubh,
can be translated 'black raven', and that this was coincidentally the name
of a king of Leinster who, according to the Annals of Ulster, died in 604
AD.18 Raven imagery also appears in the name of Bran the Blessed, as
well as that of his sister Branwen, in the second branch of the Mabinogi,
and one might also recall the association of ravens and crows with death
and the battlefield. The symbolic association of ravens with kings, demi
gods, battle and death is again encountered in the story of "The Dream of
Rhonabwy," in which the central character falls asleep on an ox hide and
dreams of an encounter between King Arthur and his nephew, Owain,
involving a game of gwyddbwyli As the game is played, Arthur's squires
engage Owain's ravens in a battle of their own, initiated by the raising of
O wain's raven standard. ^ Each action of the players is accompanied by a
simultaneous reaction on the battlefield, and what may be inferred here is
that all struggles carried out symbolically on our own earthly plane are
carried out in reality in the Otherworld: the reverse no doubt being true as
well. It is as if our own so-called "real world" is the physical manifestation
of Otherworld conjuring-and visa-versa. The board game therefore was
not only a metaphor for battle, but also a catalyst for that interaction and
reciprocal relationship.
The arrangement of Celtic gaming boards found by archeologists
involves seven rows of seven squares each. This allows for a central
square, which is thought to have represented the position of the high king.
Around him, in a protective arrangement, four subordinate squares occupy
the north, south, east and west positions, and are reminiscent of Ireland's
geographical arrangement, with Tara as the central seat of power
surrounded by the four subordinate provinces or kingships of Leinster,

18
Ellis, 46.
19
Jeffrey Gantz, trans. 'The Dream of l?ionabwy' in Se i^iiw^^
(Middlesex, 1976).

^o:^?????^^^\.:-.:.:- M

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 THE GAME OF SOVEREIGNTY

Ulster, Munster and Connaught.20 This positioning also reflects the

seating arrangement at what was called "The Feast of Tara," encountered
in the story of "Bricriu's Feast," which takes place at Samhain.21 Rees &
Rees theorize that the purpose of this arrangement was to protect the high
king and maintain him in his central position of power.22 It reflected the
cosmic underpinning of physical existence, and served to hold at bay the
forces of dissolution and chaos that threatened from beyond the borders.
Here, Tara is depicted as the cosmic center of the universe; and in order to
maintain cosmic order, the center must hold. A poem dated from between
1200-1600 advises:

The centre of the plain of F?l is Tara's

castle, delightful hill; out in the exact
centre of the plain, like a mark on a parti
colored brannumb board. Advance
thither, it will be a profitable step: leap up
on that square, which is fitting for the
bran?n (king), the board is fittingly thine.
I would draw thy attention, O white of
tooth, to the noble squares proper for the
bran?n (Tara, Cashel, Croghan, Naas,
Oileach), let them be occupied by thee. A
golden bran?n with his band art thou with
thy four provincials; thou O king of
Bregia, on yonder square and a man on
each square around thee.23

20
Rees, 154.
21
Samhain was celebrated on November first. Gantz, Early Irish Myths and
Sagas, 219.
22 Rees, 147-8, 154-5.
23
Eleanor Knott, trans. The Bardic Poems ofTadhgDall O hUiginn (London,
1926) 198.
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 LAUREN DYE

In both Irish and Welsh mythology, it is often stated that tht?dchell or

gwyddbwyll board is silver and its pieces are of gold or bronze.
Furthermore, we are often told that the pieces are said to "play
themselves."24 This invokes an image of humans serving as the playing
pieces of the Gods as they manipulate the fate of humankind for their own
amusement. This concept is not unfamiliar in classical Greek mythology,
where it often appears that humans are playing out dramas in the physical
world that are scripted by the Gods and Goddesses in the spiritual world.
Later, William Shakespeare reflected that all the world is a stage and we
are but players.25 Since that time philosophers and theologians have
debated the question: Are we, indeed, the players, or are we played?
We have seen that the board game was symbolic of the struggle
for the land, and its successful utilization was necessary to maintain the
covenant with the Sovereignty of that land and the kingship that came
with it. Throughout history, Celtic monarchs were not crowned?they were
inaugurated out of doors and upon that very land; that sacred earth also
symbolized by the board game and by its corresponding talismanic
element of stone.2^ Later, monarchs of Scotland were inaugurated upon
what is called the 'Stone of Scone', a rectangular piece of rock which
served as a symbol of the bonding of the king with the earth forces. After
it was stolen in the thirteenth century by Edward I of England, it was taken
to London. Subsequent monarchs of England, including Queen Elizabeth
II, were in turn crowned on this stone,27 demonstrating that the
significance of its symbolism and power has not been lost even in the
twentieth century.

24
Caithn Matthews, Arthur and the Sovereignty of Britain, 97. Matthews is
quoting Trioedd Ynys Prydein, ed. Rachel Bromwich (Cardiff 1961).
As You Like It, 2.7.
26
Caitlin Matthews, Arthur and the Sovereignty of Britain, 235.
Caitlin Matthews, Arthur and the Sovereignty of Britain, 97,

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