Quidditch.  What a wonderful game. Creative concept, instinctual strategy, risk, daring, teamwork.  It’s got it all.  Before J.K. Rowling flooded our households in ’97 with historic stories of three 11 year old’s taking on the challenges of youth and a new magical world all at the same time, Quidditch was not a word any of us knew.  But it was there.  Quidditch is a game thousands of years old.  It was first coined “Quidditch” in 1050 to be exact.  It wasn’t the first recorded game played on broomsticks but it was the most well organized.  Primarily a relative of the Scottish game Creaothceann, some key aspects came from journal entries describing bewitched stones hovering around trying knock players off their brooms while they attempted to score through the trees.  Remind anybody of Bludgers?  A witch by the name of Gerdie Kettle who lived by a little marsh in Scotland kept a diary of notes she took on the game she would witness outside her cottage.  That marsh was called Queerditch Marsh and is the first recorded location of Quidditch and where it gets its name.

There is plenty of information in great detail about the history of Quidditch thanks to J.K. Rowling.  She took the time to write a book all about it, Quidditch Through the Ages, you can purchase it here.  Or head over to our web store where it’s available for purchase as well.

Stay tuned, we’ll update you with fun Quidditch history facts every week!