Ivory Vikings: The Mystery of the Most Famous Chessmen in the World and the Woman Who Made Them

Back in 1831 a collection of 92 chessmen was discovered on the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides. Carved from ivory taken from walrus tusks, each piece was individual and idiosyncratic, with differing faces, expressions, clothing, and weaponry. Debate over the Lewis chessmen's creator(s) and place(s) of origin began shortly after their discovery and has carried on without end. In this well written and fascinating volume Nancy Marie Brown tells us what is known or surmised about the chessmen, and in so doing she has revealed the complex civilization centered around the North Atlantic Ocean from which they came. In the 10th and 11th centuries the North Atlantic bustled with an active sea-going society. The Northmen or Vikings carried on trade between Scandinavia, Russia, Ireland, Britain, Iceland, and Greenland. Gifted craftsmen created beautiful art work out of stone, wood, and ivory, which was obtained from the large walrus herds to be found in Iceland and Greenland. Kings jostled for power while missionaries carried Christianity throughout the region, leading to the erection of beautifully constructed and decorated churches and cathedrals. It was in this setting that the Lewis chessmen were most likely carved. Debate is ongoing over their place of origin, with strong arguments being made for Norway, but the weight of the evidence seems to point towards Iceland, where there were many talented ivory carvers, including a remarkable artist called Margret the Adroit. The surviving art known to have been produced by her bears strong resemblances to the Lewis chessmen,and it is to her that Brown looks for the most likely creator of the pieces. Brown structured her book by focussing on the principle chess pieces. Chapter One, titled The Rooks, looks to the origins of the game of chess and to the development of the trade in and art of walrus tusk ivory. The second chapter is on The Bishops and covers the spread of Christianity to Iceland and Greenland. In those early days bishops often held temporal powers as rulers in place of kings, maintaining law and order over a society dominated by warring chieftains. Eventually religious and political power separated, but the bishops still held sway over much of the territory throught their great wealth. Chapter Three is on The Queens, and it is here that we learn as much of the story of Margret the Adroit as can be pieced together. Norse women had to be strong, resolute, and determined to survive in their harsh environment, and Brown tells us their stories too, including Queen Gunnhild the Grim,who may well have been the model for the Lewis chess queens. Chapter Four deals with The Kings and gives more details on the combative monarchs who strove for power and encouraged exploration and trade. The Knights in the fifth chapter were not the warriors in shining armor the term invokes for us today. These knights rode small horses or ponies and wore a variety of gear and weaponry. The Lewis knights display a wide range of helmets, some with nose and ear guards and others without, while some seem to wear precursors of the modern bowler. It is in this chapter that Brown relates the many stories of how the Lewis chessmen came to be discovered, for as with so much else to do with them, there are disputes as to who found them and where. The Pawns are the least elaborately carved of the chessmen and thus they are relegated to the Acknowledgements. This is a rich and fascinating history which focusses on an often overlooked or neglected region and reveals its complex and wonderful history. We may never know whether Margret the Adroit was indeed the chessmen's carver, but we now know much more about her and about the society from which she sprang.

It's veritable history of Norway and Iceland, wrapped up in the telling of carving chess pieces. Fascinating in many places but there are so many rulers and chiefs and their wives and cousins and friends' names in the book that sometimes it becomes a whirl of "who is that again?" If you're interested in the famous Lewis chess set this is a must read. Well done.

Her last book, Song of the Vikings, was a (London) Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year 2012, so you know she can write well. Nancy Marie Brown's new book is a scholarly but highly entertaining investigation of the provenance of the famous chess pieces known as the Lewis Chessmen found at Uist, the Isle of Lewis, Hebrides, Scotland. They are probably the most famous chess pieces in the world, having been used as the models for various chess interpretations, such as in the Harry Potter movies, and they are listed as number 61 in BBC Radio 4’s History of the World in 100 Objects (also excellent). Brown’s wonderfully conversational style hides the fact that she is giving us a detailed history of these remarkable pieces of carved walrus ivory. Along the way, we are introduced to most of the players in the later Viking period (1000 AD-1300), some with great names like King Eirik Blood-Axe, the original Valdemar King of Denmark, King Magnus Bare-legs (who like the Scots he conquered so much he decided to wear kilts), and Earl Erling Skew-neck. She shows us how Greenland, Iceland, the Hebrides, the Orkneys, Norway, Sweden and Denmark had vibrant trade routes, in many ways an advanced culture. She limns the progress of Christianity as it replaces the ancient Norse bedrock. And she brings to life Margaret the Adroit of Iceland, master ivory craftswoman working for Bishop Pall. Nearly every page has something interesting or surprising on it (for example, the fact those famous war steeds of the knights were pony size until the late 1200’s, calling into question Scott’s depiction of Ivanhoe on a charger). While the Viking chieftains and kings and bishops can be dizzying, they never overwhelm. Brown tells us early that “more medieval literature exists in Icelandic than in any other European language except Latin—and many of the Sagas have not been translated." Brown, however, reads Icelandic, so her sources for all the Nordic world, including its incursions in France and England, are extensive. And she draws from architecture, art, tapestries, papal documents—a whole world of emerges, a real world of real people. For me this is a five star book—for those with no interest in such things, take off a half star.

I enjoy this kind of history, in which one begins with specific objects (or people, or buildings) and then the circles of contributing information expand outward. The book begins with and keeps returning the chess pieces from medieval Iceland (and the church, rulers, artisans, culture, ecology, economy of Iceland in those times) but also moves outwards to their context: what was happening in the Christian Churches and church hierarchy in Scandinavia and the British Isles; walrus tusk ivory, how it differs from that from elephants and how it is worked; the archaeology of western Ireland and Scotland; the history of chess; medieval trade routes; who/what the "Vikings" were. For me, the solution to the 'mystery' of the title (who made the pieces?), though interesting, was not as important as their meaning and use in their time and place. I wish there had been more illustrations, but otherwise loved the book.

The issue with this book was that the title said it was about the chessmen and the woman that carved them. However, this made up only about 15% of the book. The rest was a history of the Vikings and Iceland and their rulers during this period. Not a bad story, but not why I bought the book.

This is an excellent book. Very readable, and well sourced. The author uses the discovery of the "Lewis chess pieces" and their very uncertain origin as a frame of reference to write a history which functions on three levels. One level is the chessmen themselves and in the process of describing them as works of art and culture, a history of the game of chess and how it evolved unfolds. The next level, again centered around the chess pieces is a description of medieval Norse culture centered on Iceland and the Norse presence in northern Scotland and the Scottish islands. The third level expands on the second theme and becomes a description and discussion of the Viking kingdoms in Norway and Denmark which includes stories of real people, i.e. various kings, queens, bishops, et al, which may, or may not, be the inspiration for some of the chess pieces. Much is made of the pieces having individual faces as well as distinctive clothing that gives clues to their origins and possible ties to historical figures. If chess and history are two of your hobbies, this book is definitely one you will enjoy.

I used to play chess a lot, I was a 1400 level (average) woodpusher in a chess club. Always interested in the Lewis chessmen, I decided to buy this book before I buy a replica set. The originals are worth something like $1 million each, so $32 million for the set if a museum would sell them. Not bad for an $80 pound investment by the British Museum in London. I gave this book 4 stars. It is the only one I have on the Lewis chessmen although I have had a ton of chess books. I selected it because it was recently published compared to many others. The author makes a very compelling case for the creation of the set. Although most scholars agree they were made in the late 1100's due to their unique style, the ongoing question is where. The author make a very clear argument that they were carved in Iceland by a particular artist under a particular Bishop. However, older arguments have been made that they were carved in Trondheim, Norway. The reason I gave the book 4 not 5 stars is that it really gets involved in the Viking Age and the various Kings and Bishops of the North Sea area of the time. As Norway had conquered most of it, there is debate if certain areas ought be called 'Made in Norway' today even though that geographic location today would be Scotland, hence 'Made in Scotland' or 'Made in Iceland'. But there is an awful lot of historical detail in this book about those times, hence the removal of a star. The author is clear to state that this is a theory, albiet backed up by a lot of both inductive and deductive reasoning; yet the other explainations of the creation of the Lewis chessmen are theoritical also, which much less backup. Hence the competing theories are much like a chess game. On the side of Trondheim, Norway the British Museum is the King and the Scottish Museum the Queen as both have some of the Lewis chessmen within. On the other side of the board are several non-institutionally aligned pieces such as this author who play out the game in a magnificient style worthy of Bobby Fischer himself at Reykjavik.

This work was a very interesting read… I had a hard time putting it down… While some details seemed to stray a bit from the thesis, it was still a very captivating examination of the possible origins of these amazing chess pieces… I believe the finer pieces were in fact made by Margret of Skalholt…

Loved the story. A very unique and special chess set made a very long time ago. If you are a chess fan at all you will adore this story!

En cuanto vi el libro, supe que quería tenerlo pues trataba un tema que ya conocía anteriormente al haber tenido la oportunidad de ver esas piezas de las cuales quede enamorado desde el primer instante. El libro, escrito de forma brillante nos muestra las hipótesis sobre el origen de las misteriosas piezas de marfil minuciosamente talladas. Mejor leerlo, no adelanto nada más.

Wonderful illumination of the game, the Lewis pieces and, particularly, Viking history.

Nancy Brown's work is thorough and fascinating. She is clearly knowledgeable but also enthusiastic about her topic. Some photos of the existing Lewis chessmen, even in black and white, would have really supported her readers' interests and acted as good reference points for them.

Fascinating story about chess pieces found in beach sands on the Isle of Lewis (Scotland), with a long historical trail of discovery leading to Iceland. Some parts of the book seem quite technical if you're not a professional historian, (I'm not a pro and found some parts difficult). We'll need to see what the historians come up with next...