[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index][Author Index][Search Archives]

MR: Fanorona




Poster: edh@ascc01.ascc.lucent.com (Alfredo el Bufon)

> >    G-a: Fanorona, the national game of Madagascar.
>
> Never heard of it.  What is it?

} What time period was it played in?

Fanorona (pronounced /fun-OO-run-ah/) is a board game from
a large island off the Indian Ocean coast of Africa.

You can read about it at
http://www.ens-lyon.fr/~rrandria/Fanorona.html
if you have WWWeb access (and can read French).

According to the book "Fanorona: The National Game of
Madagascar" (by J. et S. Chauvicourt, 1972, translated
from the French by Leonard Fox, 1984):

  Under the reign of Ralambo (1575-1610), Prince
  Andriantompokoindrindra, who was heir to the
  throne, became a famous player and his name has
  remained attached to the fanorona engraved at
  Ambohimalaza.

So it's _at_least_ as old as the late Period.  It may
be far older, for the same book also says,

  In the "Tantaran' ny Andriana" [1902], Father Callet
  states that fanorona goes back to the Vazimba (the
  earliest inhabitants of Madagascar) and came to the
  island with the first settlers.  The ancient people
  called it fandrao maty paika ('we are afaid of being
  blocked').

The board looks like two alquerque boards joined together.
And as in alquerque, the game begins with all the points
of the board occupied except the central point.  But the
way the pieces capture is very different from alquerque
(or any other game you can think of).  The _feel_ of the
game is a little like Reversi or Othello, in that a
single move can capture a large number of pieces.

I read somewhere (I don't remember where) that men in
Madagascar traditionally play Fanorona against their
daughters' suitors, to gauge their suitability.  There
are certain features of the game that lend themselves
to such a use.

The last I heard, the headquarters of the International
Fanorona Association is within the borders of Atlantia,
placely, 278-A Meeting Street, Charleston, SC 29401.

Since it got a positive response in the survey, I will
bring my fanorona set to the Crown Tourney.  You can
ask me more about it there.

-- Alfredo
 
Alfredo el Bufon
Elvegast, Windmaster's Hill, Atlantia
edh@ascc01.ascc.lucent.com
______________________________________
+--------------------------------+
|The Period Table of the Elements|
+-------+-------+--------+-------+
|  Air  | Earth |  Fire  | Water |
+-------+-------+--------+-------+

=======================================================================
List Archives, FAQ, FTP:  http://sca.wayfarer.org/merryrose/
            Submissions:  atlantia@atlantia.sca.org
        Admin. requests:  majordomo@atlantia.sca.org


  • Follow-Ups:
  • References: