Oathfall Hand Made Maple Kubb Viking Lawn Game Set | 21 Pieces with Valknut Engraved King | Canvas Carry Bag and Field Markers | Outdoor Family Gift | RK-1755

The Oathfall is a full kubb set turned and cut from pale hard maple: ten rectangular kubbs, one taller king with a turned crown, six cylindrical throwing batons and four corner stakes to mark the pitch. The king carries a Valknut burned into one face, three interlocked triangles, and the whole set packs into a heavy cotton canvas carry bag with a shoulder strap so it can go to a park or a beach in one hand.

Kubb is played on grass in a rectangle roughly five metres by eight, and the whole game turns on one rule that people never believe until they play it: you have to knock down the enemy kubbs on the far line first, then the ones your opponent throws back into your own half, and only then may you go for the king. Take the king early and you lose on the spot. Every Oathfall set is cut, turned, sanded, burned and finished by hand in the Czech Republic. It lands in the Viking games, with the wedding and groomsmen gifts close enough that people usually look at both.

Specifications

How kubb is played, and one honest note about the name

Mark a rectangle about five metres wide and eight metres long. Each team lines five kubbs along its own baseline. The king stands in the centre. Teams take turns throwing the six batons underarm, end over end, at the opposing kubbs. Batons must be thrown vertically, not helicoptered sideways, and that single restriction is what makes the game a skill rather than a scramble.

Any baseline kubb you knock down gets thrown by your opponent into your half of the pitch on their turn, and it is stood up where it lands. Those are field kubbs, and here is the rule that decides every game: on your next turn you must knock down every field kubb in your half before you are allowed to touch the baseline kubbs again. If a field kubb is still standing when you run out of batons, your opponent may advance to the nearest fallen field kubb and throw from there, which can put them halfway up the pitch. Clear the field kubbs, clear the baseline kubbs, and only then throw at the king. Hit the king before that and you lose immediately.

The honest note: kubb is often sold as an ancient Viking game and there is no archaeological evidence for that. The game as it is played today was codified on the Swedish island of Gotland and spread through Sweden from the 1990s, with a world championship on Gotland since 1995. Older tossing games with blocks certainly existed, but nobody has dug a kubb set out of a Viking grave. It is made in Norse trim because that is how it is enjoyed, and we would rather give you the real history than a story.

The maple and why it is left unsealed

Hard maple is the right timber for a game where wood hits wood at speed. It is dense, close grained, and it dents rather than splitting when a baton catches a kubb on the corner. Softer woods like pine feel fine on the first afternoon and then start losing chunks off the edges. Every edge on this set is eased with a sanding block so there is nothing sharp for the grass or for hands.

We leave the set unsealed rather than varnished. A film finish on a game piece that gets thrown looks excellent for one season and then chips, and the chips go white and catch on clothing. Bare sanded maple greys gently and evenly, gains a little surface texture that actually improves the grip on a baton, and can be brought back at any time with a light sanding. If you want to slow the greying, a wipe of boiled linseed or outdoor timber oil once a season will do it without leaving a skin.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel, the leather or the wood. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On the Oathfall the usual request is a family name or a date on the second face of the king, which leaves the Valknut where it is, and a chosen design on the first face replaces the Valknut. Details are on the engraving page.

Setting up the pitch and storing the set

Push the four corner stakes into the grass to mark a rectangle about five metres by eight. If you are playing on a lawn that will not take a stake, use the batons themselves to pace out the lines before the game starts and agree the boundary. Stand five kubbs evenly along each baseline and the king in the centre of the pitch. Younger players do better on a shorter pitch, so shrink the length rather than changing the rules.

The set is for grass, sand or hard packed dirt. It is not for gravel or paving, which will chew the ends of the batons within a few games. When you are finished, knock the grass off the pieces, let anything damp dry in the open before it goes in the bag, and store the bag somewhere ventilated. A canvas bag closed on wet maple in a garage is how a good set gets mould stains.

Care

Wipe the pieces down with a dry cloth after play and never leave the set out overnight in the rain. Maple left soaking will raise its grain and eventually check at the end grain. If pieces do get wet, stand them upright somewhere airy and let them dry slowly rather than putting them near a heater, which cracks wood far faster than water does. Once a season, a light sand with fine paper along the grain and a wipe of outdoor timber oil will take out the fuzz and even the colour. The canvas bag can be brushed clean or washed cold and line dried. Nothing here goes in a dishwasher or a washing machine on a hot cycle.

Made in the Czech Republic

Every piece we sell is made by hand in the Czech Republic. The smiths there work the way the trade has been worked for a long time, heating and hammering the steel, taking the bevels down by eye, and fitting the handle and the leather one at a time. There is no automated line anywhere in it, so small differences from one piece to the next are normal and expected.

Ransack Viking is a United States company based in Memphis, Tennessee. We bring the pieces in ourselves, inspect them on arrival and ship them from our own warehouse. If you add engraving, that is carried out here in the United States before your order goes out.

A note on handmade variation

This set is made by hand and not machine produced in bulk, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Maple varies from board to board and your set will run anywhere from near white to a warm cream, sometimes with a streak of darker heartwood through one or two pieces. The burned Valknut is drawn by hand and the line weight is its own. The dimensions, the piece count and the build are the same every time. The character is not, and after a season outdoors the whole set will have taken on a colour that no factory could give it. For the detail behind that, see the Norse gods, and gifts for reenactors alongside it.

Frequently asked questions

How many people can play

Anywhere from two to twelve. Two players one against one is the sharpest game, and teams of three a side is the most social. With larger groups, split into two teams and rotate who throws each turn so everyone gets batons.

Can children play

Yes, and it is one of the few lawn games where a child and an adult can genuinely compete, because accuracy beats strength. Shorten the pitch for younger players and keep the underarm vertical throw rule, which is the safe way to throw a baton.

Can I leave it outside

Not overnight and not in the rain. Bare maple handles a damp afternoon fine and hates sitting in a wet lawn for a week. Dry the pieces, bag them and store the bag somewhere ventilated.

Is the bag included

Yes. The heavy cotton canvas bag with a shoulder strap shown in the photograph carries the whole set, all twenty one pieces, and the rule sheet.

Will it splinter

Hard maple is chosen precisely because it dents instead of splintering. Every edge is eased by hand before packing. After a lot of play the ends of the batons will fuzz slightly, and a minute with fine sandpaper resets them.

How long does shipping take

Processing is one to two weeks because the set is made rather than picked off a shelf, plus a few days if you have ordered custom burning. Shipping in the United States is free and returns are accepted within seven days.

What is in the box

• 10 maple kubbs and 1 turned king with a burned Valknut
• 6 turned throwing batons
• 4 corner stakes for marking the pitch
• Heavy cotton canvas carry bag with a shoulder strap
• Printed rule sheet with pitch dimensions and the field kubb rule
• Lifetime warranty against defects in the timber, the turning and the bag
• Made and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

See the rest of the Viking games, our home decor, the full range of accessories, and the guides.