Ivory Vikings

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Ivory Vikings
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Nancy Marie Brown
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:256
Dimensions(mm): Height 208,Width 139
Category/GenreCarvings
History of specific subjects
Medieval European archaeology
ISBN/Barcode 9781250108593
ClassificationsDewey:736.6209411
Audience
General

Publishing Details

Publisher St Martin's Press
Imprint St Martin's Press
Publication Date 6 September 2016
Publication Country United States

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

A richly imagined journey to the Viking world that created the Lewis chessmen - "the most important chess pieces in history." - New York Times