Fidchell was a "chess-like" game played in Ireland, and was apparently similar to the Norse game Tafl and the Welsh game Tawlbwrdd. Much about Fidchell has been lost, but when reconstructing the lost part of a culture, piecing together stories and archeology yields good results.
Most say that Fidchell, pronounced "fickle", means "wood-sense". However, the Sanskrit word for wisdom is vid or veid, as well as being the root-word for wisdom in modern-English. Interestingly, the Sanskrit word vid or veid seems to be the root-word for wood as well. Apparently, the ancient-Hindus considered trees to be inseparably connected to wisdom.
Now, Irish derives even more directly from Sanskrit than English does. If one notes that the Sanskrit word for wisdom, vid or veid, is the root for wisdom and wood, that gives a much clearer meaning to the name of Fidchell.
While Fidchell might still mean "wood-sense", a simultaneous meaning of "wisdom-sense" tracks very strongly with a chess-like game. Strategy games have always been used to prepare, exercise and measure a King's battle-prowess.
A series of interesting pages that try to reconstruct Fidchell.
Copyright © J. G. Jones