Gnau

“Gnav” ~ a Norwegian Card Game

GNAV er et klassisk kortspill med aner helt tilbake til 1400-tallets Italia.

“Gnav” or “Gnau” is the Norwegian version of the old card game called variously “Cucu” (or “Cuccu”) in Italy and “Gnau” (or “Gnav”), “Kille” or “Cambio” in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, where it is still played. The pack consists of two series of picture cards and two series of numerals; the exact number of cards and the design and composition of the picture cards varies from country to country. The picture cards are almost as amusing as animal tarots or fortune-telling cards.

Right: front of the box from a Norwegian "gnav" game produced by Egmont Litor A/S, Oslo, 1998. Images courtesy Anthony Lee.

In Denmark the game did not remain popular after the 1920s and appears virtually extinct in Denmark, but you may procure this deck in practically every large bookshop in Oslo.

Above & Left: cards from a Norwegian "gnav" game produced by Egmont Litor A/S, Oslo, 1998. The deck is of 42 cards + rule card, comprising of a series of 21 subjects repeated twice. Of these 21 subjects, there are 8 pictures, and 13 numbers from 12-0. Images courtesy Anthony Lee.

See also:   Black Peter   Cromy   Card Games   Happy Families   Jack-of-all-Trades   Hijitus   Hee Trading Co   Illustrated Proverbs   Jaques' Happy Families   Noddy Happy Families   Pekka-Peli   Peruvian Animals Quartet   Reshuffle   Walt Disney   Zoo Comics  

By Simon Wintle

Member since February 01, 1996

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Curator and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.