Daldøs [dal'døs] is a running-fight board game only known from a few coastal locations in southern Scandinavia, where its history can be traced back to around 1800.

In Denmark it is known as daldøs in Northern and Western Jutland (Mors, Thisted and Fanø), and possibly as daldos on Bornholm.

In Norway it is known under the name of daldøsa from Jæren, where, unlike in Denmark, a continuous tradition of the daldøs game exists.

Sáhkku is known to have been played among Sámi on the northern coast and eastern-central inland of Sápmi, far away from Jæren and Denmark.

In the rules supplied with some reconstructions of the game, the direction of the moves is reversed (prow-to-stern in the middle row instead of stern-to-prow, etc.).

The end game can be tedious, so it has been suggested to agree that the first player to have only one piece left loses.

The number of holes in each row is rather arbitrary; instead of the 16+17+16 used in the Danish game, 12+13+12 are used in Norway, with 12 pieces for each player.

In either case, there is no obvious reason for the extra hole in the middle row, other than to distinguish the two ends of the board, which is necessary to define the direction of play.

The origins of Daldøs are unknown, but it is strikingly similar to some games in the tâb group from Northern Africa and Western Asia, widely distributed during the Muslim expansion.

One may conjecture that some sea-going trade contact has carried a tâb game to Scandinavia, either directly from the Arab world, or possibly via England, where a codex from Cerne Abbey, Dorset, from the second half of the thirteenth century (Folio 2v, MS 0.2.45, Trinity College Library, Cambridge) possibly shows a Daldøs board with 11+12+11 holes, after both players have made their first move.

A connection involving the Swedish Vikings known as Varangians, mercenaries for the Byzantine Empire before 1100, has been suggested[citation needed].

From Bornholm, no sources mention the game, but a local saying spilla daldōs (lit.

In Jæren in Norway, a game of unknown age is kept in Hå bygdemuseum, a part of Jærmuseet.

The marking A on the daldøs dice probably stands for ace or the like, but the etymology of the name dal remains a mystery.

Døs is probably a variant of a Nordic word traditionally used for the "two" on a die, related to old French doues, surviving in the Danish word sinkadus, originally meaning a dice throw from another dice game of a 5 and a 2.