Ivory Vikings - BookWyrm

280 pages

English language

Published Oct. 8, 2015

ISBN:: 978-1-137-27937-8
OCLC Number:: 898418974

(5 reviews)

In the early 1800's, on a Hebridean beach in Scotland, the sea exposed an ancient treasure cache: 93 chessmen carved from walrus ivory. 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? Nancy Marie Brown's 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 brings from the …

In the early 1800's, on a Hebridean beach in Scotland, the sea exposed an ancient treasure cache: 93 chessmen carved from walrus ivory. 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? Nancy Marie Brown's 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 brings from the shadows an extraordinarily talented woman artist of the twelfth century: Margret the Adroit of Iceland.

3 editions

Geoff reviewed Ivory Vikings by Nancy Marie Brown

Review of 'Ivory Vikings' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

This book looked right down my alley and I really enjoyed it. There’s a lot of speculation here (and lots I’m not educated enough on the subject to judge). But the idea of an Icelandic woman as carver of such an iconic piece of art is really exciting.

I think what I liked best about this book is that it was my first introduction to Icelandic history and literature. It strikes me that Iceland seems to be in this magical place in history: not so new like colonial American history that all the facts are laid bare, but not so old that the origins are entirely unknowable. I really love the teasing apart of history and legend. It’s almost like these legends are thiiiiis close to verifiable. I’ll definitely be reading some Icelandic Sagas soon.

This book looked right down my alley and I really enjoyed it. There’s a lot of speculation here (and lots I’m not educated enough on the subject to judge). But the idea of an Icelandic woman as carver of such an iconic piece of art is really exciting.

I think what I liked best about this book is that it was my first introduction to Icelandic history and literature. It strikes me that Iceland seems to be in this magical place in history: not so new like colonial American history that all the facts are laid bare, but not so old that the origins are entirely unknowable. I really love the teasing apart of history and legend. It’s almost like these legends are thiiiiis close to verifiable. I’ll definitely be reading some Icelandic Sagas soon.