Ivory Vikings

Hardback

Main Details

Title Ivory Vikings
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Nancy Marie Brown
Physical Properties
Format:Hardback
Pages:288
Dimensions(mm): Height 241,Width 163
Category/GenreByzantine and medieval art c 500 CE to c 1400
Medieval European archaeology
ISBN/Barcode 9781137279378
ClassificationsDewey:948.022
Audience
Professional & Vocational

Publishing Details

Publisher Palgrave Macmillan
Imprint Palgrave Macmillan
Publication Date 14 October 2015
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

In the early 1800s, on a Hebridean beach in Scotland, the sea exposed an ancient treasure cache: 93 chessmen carved from walrus ivory. Norse netsuke, each face individual, each full of quirks, the Lewis Chessmen are probably the most famous chess pieces in the world. Harry played Wizard's Chess with them in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Housed at the British Museum, they are among its most visited and beloved objects. Questions abounded: Who carved them? Where? Ivory Vikings explores these mysteries by connecting medieval Icelandic sagas with modern archaeology, art history, forensics, and the history of board games. In the process, Ivory Vikings presents a vivid history of the 400 years when the Vikings ruled the North Atlantic, and the sea-road connected countries and islands we think of as far apart and culturally distinct: Norway and Scotland, Ireland and Iceland, and Greenland and North America. The story of the Lewis chessmen explains the economic lure behind the Viking voyages to the west in the 800s and 900s. And finally, it brings from the shadows an extraordinarily talented woman artist of the twelfth century: Margret the Adroit of Iceland.

Author Biography

Nancy Marie Brown is the author of highly praised books of nonfiction, including Song of the Vikings. She is fluent in Icelandic, and spends her summers in Iceland. She has deep ties to the Scandinavian cultural institutions in the U.S. Brown lives in East Burke,VT.

Reviews

"The most important chess pieces in history." - New York Times