Stýrivolt [] or Stýrvolt (Danish language, Danish: styrvolt, from the Low German ''stürewold'' = "wild, unruly person") is an old Scandinavian card game, that appears to be extinct today except on the Faroe Islands. ''Stýrivolt'' is closely related to

Knüffeln Knüffeln is a very old trick-taking card game for four players, playing in pairs, that is still played in North Germany. Once considered the national game of Frisia, Knüffeln is a descendant of Karnöffel, the oldest identifiable European card ...

and both are descended from the German game of Karnöffel, the oldest European card game with a continuous tradition of play. Styrivolt probably evolved from Karnöffel during the early 17th century and must have quickly spread to Scandinavia for, in 1658 in Sweden, a game with the name ''stýr-wålt'' is mentioned in the poem, ''Hercules'' (''Herkules''), by Georg Stiernhielm along with other card games including

Karniffel Karniffel or Thuringian Karnöffel was a trick-taking card game for four players, playing in pairs, the rules of which were recorded in some detail in a German periodical of the late 18th century where it was described as being played by the Thurin ...

. On the Faroes, the game has been played since the 18th century, being mentioned, for example, in

Jens Christian Svabo Jens Christian Svabo (1746 – 1824) was a pioneering Faroese linguist, scholar, and ethnographer. Svabo was born in Miðvágur, Vágar, the Faroe Islands to a minister and his wife. Svabo studied history, music, and theology in Miðvágur and l ...

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''Indberetninger fra en Reise i Færöe, 1781 - 1782''
As ''Styrvolt'', the game is described in several Danish games compendia, the earliest being ''Politiske Spille Regler for de tilladelige og meest brugelige Spil i Vertshusene'' (1774), an example of which is in the Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen. From these sources it is clear that Stýrivolt has changed little over the last two centuries. Another early Danish reference is found in a 1798 book on the culture of

North Zealand North Zealand, also North Sealand ( da, Nordsjælland), refers to the northern part of the Danish island of Zealand which is not clearly defined but generally covers the area north of Copenhagen. The Danish tourist authorities have recently in ...

in which Styrvolt is mentioned three times, including as a game at which farmers play for money. Stýrivolt is a game for four players in two teams of two. There are five permanent

trumps A trump is a playing card which is elevated above its usual rank in trick-taking games. Typically, an entire suit is nominated as a ''trump suit''; these cards then outrank all cards of plain (non-trump) suits. In other contexts, the terms ''tru ...

and two

chosen suit The following is a glossary of terms used in card games. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon slang terms. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific (e.g. specific to Bridge, Hearts, Poker or Rummy) ...

s with cards that have different privileges as follows: *Aces and Jacks - full trumps *Sixes, Twos, Threes and Fours - partial trumps i.e. they can only beat certain cards in the unchosen suits, *Sevens - unbeatable when led, otherwise worthless *Eights and Nines - free cards, only beatable by trumps when led, otherwise worthless *Kings and Queens - some privileges when led *Fives - only useful for exchanging with a trump turnup Several Faroese terms in Stýrivolt are derived directly from the German language. For example, the ''karniffil'' (from German ''Karnöffel'') is the Jack and the ''pavstur'' (from the German ''Papst'' i.e. "Pope") is the Six. Stýrivolt has become a rare pastime now on the Faroes. In 1975, an article in the cultural magazine, ''Varðin'', said that it was threatened by extinction and had practically disappeared from Denmark. In the same article it was described as "a little complicated to understand", but also as "extremely entertaining" once one had first learnt the special terminology. This article was published in English in 1998 (see Literature) and described the rules as the game was played in

Kvívík Kvívík ( da, Kvivig) is a village on the west coast of Streymoy in the Faroe Islands, in the eponymous municipality of ''Kvívík''. History Kvívík is one of the oldest settlements in the Faroes and excavations have shown the remains of Viki ...

References

Literature

*Bærentsen, Jógvan (1975). "Stýrivoltur" in ''Varðin'', Vol. 43, Issue 3/4, (1975) pp. 162–168 *Junge, Joachim (1798). ''Den nordsiellandske Landalmues: Character, Skikke, Meeninger og Sprog'' ("The North Zealand Common Land: Character, Customs, Meaning and Language.") Popp, Copenhagen. *McLeod, John (1998). "Stýrivolt" a
www.pagat.com
- English translation and revision. *Parlett, David (2008). ''The Penguin Book of Card Games'', Penguin, London. *Stiernhielm, Georg (1993). ''Trumpf på hand: en historia om svenska spelkort'', Uddevalla. {{DEFAULTSORT:Styrivolt French deck card games Faroese culture Four-player card games Danish card games Karnöffel group Faroese language 17th-century card games