Gnav

This article is about the traditional game. For the piece of sailing equipment, see boom vang.

"Cuccu" redirects here. For the bird, see Cuckoo.

File:Brikker.jpg

Gnav pieces.

Gnav is a traditional game that is played with either cards or wooden pieces. Related games are Cuccù, Hexenspiel, Gnaio, Vogelspiel, Cambio (also Campio, Camphio, Camfio, or Kamfio), and Kille. The game can be played by 20 or more players, and a minimum of two.

History of the game

File:Hallwylska museet 2012 03.jpg

Swedish Kille deck from 1897.

The game is closely related to the 17th century Italian game Cuccu ("cuckoo"), with a deck of 38 cards. As the game migrated north through Europe in the 18th century the number of cards and the name of the game changed. In Germany, Bavaria, and Austria, for example, it became Hexenspiel ("the Witch game") and Vogelspiel ("The Bird game"). By the time that it reached Denmark as Gniao (the miaowing of a cat — "miao" in Italian), it had 42 cards. This then became Gnav when the game was brought to Norway during the union with Denmark.

The game is first mentioned in Sweden in 1741, as Cambio (Italian for "exchange"). In 1833 this became Kille (probably a distortion of "Harlequin", given the special rules for the Harlequin card in the Swedish version of the game), which became the common form of the game around 1850.

Rules

Each player receives a single card (or wooden piece) at random, and examines its value. If a player is dealt the Fool, they must knock the table to alert other players to this fact. Players also receive equal supplies of tokens. Play then proceeds by turns, starting to the left of the dealer. Each turn, a player may either choose to keep their card (saying "jeg står"), or to swap it with their left-hand neighbor ("jeg byte"). Play continues until reaching the dealer, who has the choice of keeping their card or swapping it with the top card of the deck, drawing another card if a Horse or House is drawn. Once the dealer has has their turn, the round ends.

If a player attempts to swap their card with one of the five highest cards in the game (picture cards known as matadors), the swap is prevented and another action happens in its place, depending on the matador card held by their opponent:

• Cuckoo: the holder says "stop, cuckoo" and the round ends immediately.
• Dragoon: the holder says "cut off" ("hugg av"), and the player who tried to swap cards must pay a token to the pool. Play then proceeds with the player to the holder's left.
• Cat: the holder says "miaow" or "sst, change back" ("kiss, bytt om"), the player who tried to swap cards must pay a token to the pool, and the game is reset so that every player has the card they started with.
• Horse or House: the holder says "pass the horse" ("hest vorbi") or "pass the house" ("hus vorbi"), and the player who tried to swap cards must instead swap with the player to the left of the holder (or with the top card of the deck, if the holder is also the dealer).

When the round ends, all players reveal their cards and the player with the lowest value loses the round. (If two players are tied, they both lose.) If the lowest value card was the Fool, then both the Fool's holder and the next lowest player lose. A losing player pays one token to the pool, and is eliminated if they have no tokens left. The last player remaining is the winner.

Pieces

Gnav

The wooden pieces, in the piece version of the game, resemble the pawns in chess, with the identity of the piece being written on the base and thus invisible during play. The deck, in the card version of the game, comprises 42 cards of a single suit, comprising two copies of 21 distinct cards, in the ranking (highest to lowest):

• Gjöken (cuckoo) — a deliberately old-fashioned spelling of "Gjøken"/"Gauken" (Bokmål/Nynorsk)
• Dragonen (dragoon)
• Katten (cat)
• Hesten (horse)
• Huset (house)
• The Roman numerals XII down through I
• 0 (zero)
• Narren (Fool)
• Potten (pot)
• Uglen (owl)

Kille

The deck comprises 42 cards of a single suit, comprising two copies of 21 distinct cards, in the ranking (highest to lowest):

• Kuku (cuckoo)
• Husar
• Husu (sow/pig)
• Kavall (horse/knight)
• Värdshus (inn)
• The numbers 12 down through 1
• Kransen (wreath)
• Blompottan (flowerpot)
• Blaren (mask/face)
• Harlekin (harlequin) — this does not have a fixed place in the sequence, and its ranking depends from whether it has been dealt or exchanged

Cuccù

The game Cuccù (or Cucco, or Cucu’, or Stu) is considered as one of the oldest game played with cards. One of the first historical document describing the game is dated 10.September.1547 (“Capriccio in laude del Malcontento” written by Luigi Tansillo from Naples). As in Tarot cards, also Cucu’ illustrated cards (10 in total) have an iconographic symbology that was peculiar during the Middle Age. The other 10 cards (numbered from 1 to 10) simply have Roman numbers but with the “four” written IIII instead of IV and the “nine” written VIIII instead of IX. This was a non formal way to write Roman numbers that arose during the Middle Age. The oldest known written regulation dates back to 1717. It was included in the deck of cards produced in Bologna by Giulio Borzaghi. The deck comprises 40 cards, comprising two copies of 20 distinct cards, in the ranking (highest to lowest):

• XV – Cucco (a bird looking as an owl with a crown)
• XIIII – Hai pigliato bragon (a jack with a rose in one hand)
• XIII – Salta (a rampant horse)
• XII – Gnao (a cat)
• XI – Fermatevi alquanto (an inn)
• The numerals X down through I
• Nulla (zero)
• Secchia meno di nulla (a bucket)
• Mascherone manco di secchia (mask/face)
• (a rampant lion)
• Matto (a joker, fool) — this does not have a fixed place in the sequence.

In modern Italy, the game is played with original rules only in the small Abruzzi cities of Campli and Montorio al Vomano, both in the Teramo province. The same cards are also used in Brescia and Bergamo provinces but with different rules from the originals.

Hexenspiel

The deck comprises 32 cards with 12 numeral cards and 10 pairs of non-identical picture cards, in the ranking (highest to lowest):

• Pfeiff (Bird)
• Werda (Guard)
• Miau (Cat)
• Hott (Horse)
• Einkerth (Inn)
• The numbers XII down through I
• Deller (Plate)
• Wurst (Sausages)
• Glas (Glass)
• Narr (Fool)
• Hex (Witch)

See also

• Quartets (card game)

Notes

• which in turn cites
• Bauer, Günther G.: "Das Salzburger Hexenspiel", in: Homo Ludens. Der Spielende Mensch II (1992), G.G. Bauer (ed.). München & Salzburg: Katzbichler, ISBN 3-87397-334-0, pp. 239–282 (German).

External links

• Damm/Egmont version of Gnav at BoardGameGeek
• Regional comparisons at old.no