"Intriguing." —New In Chess
"If you want books that are very readable, those by Nancy Marie Brown are highly recommended.” —Medievalists.net
"Full of exciting detective work, along with absorbing excursions into the history of the Vikings, of chess in the Middle Ages, and of walrus ivory (known as “arctic gold”)." —The New Yorker
“A fascinating tale of discovery and mystery.” —The Minneapolis Star Tribune
“The absorbing story of long-ago links between the British Isles and Scandinavia that puts the Lewis chessmen into a vivid and much broader cultural context of Viking trade, plunder and sophisticated gift-giving…an engaging, accessible tale.” —The Economist
“A delight...for gamers of all sorts as well as anyone interested in the intricacies of the provenance of art and in endlessly fascinating minutiae-the strength and uses of walrus skin, how to carve walrus ivory, and so much more.” —Booklist
“Fascinating ... Brown successfully crafts an Icelandic history of chess while tracing the possible movements of 92 remarkable carved figures found in the early 19th century on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland....” —Publisher's Weekly
“Even if you've never played a game of chess in your life, this book is bound to fascinate.” —Matthew Driscoll, senior lecturer in Old Norse philology, Arnamagnæan Institute, University of Copenhagen
“Nancy Marie Brown's book is a true cornucopia, bursting with delicious revelations. Whether your passion is chess, art, archeology, literature or the uncanny and beautiful landscape of Iceland, Ivory Vikings offers rich and original insights by a writer who is as erudite as she is engaging.” —Geraldine Brooks, author of CALEB'S CROSSING
“Ivory Vikings is an erudite and accessible treatment of the world of the Vikings. Focusing on the famous Lewis chessmen, it suggests they might have been created in Iceland by a woman. Fascinating history for lovers of Old Norse society and chess.” —Marilyn Yalom, author of BIRTH OF THE CHESS QUEEN and HOW THE FRENCH INVENTED LOVE
“A lively introduction to the world of the Vikings and medieval Scandinavia, seen through the story of the Lewis chessmen. Brown does a superb job of exploring the personalities and personal connections that underpinned political and cultural relations across the North Atlantic and the North Sea. Her informed, even-handed reassessment of the origin of the chessmen certainly changed my mind.” —Elizabeth Ashman Rowe, FSA, Reader in Scandinavian History, University of Cambridge
“I enjoyed the hell out of Ivory Vikings. Renowned Norse scholar Nancy Marie Brown follows the Lewis chessmen's trail back to a 12th century master named Margret the Adroit. Piece by piece, Brown also peels back a millennia of history to explore the Norse world's interlocking social facets — kings, queens, berserkers, nobles, bishops and poets — that populated Viking society much as these carved ivory pieces populated a chessboard. The result is part mystery, part history, and wholly engrossing.” —Scott Weidensaul, author of THE FIRST FRONTIER
“Nancy Marie Brown has used skillful writing and her deep knowledge of the medieval Viking world to bring us a mysterious tale of the most appealing game pieces ever made, the Lewis chessmen.” —Pat Shipman, author of THE INVADERS: How Humans and Their Dogs Drove Neanderthals to Extinction
“A wonderful read. Brown knows how to hold the reader´s attention as she digs deep into Icelandic sagas, archaeology, forensics, and art history to solve a mystery about the Lewis chessmen, the North Atlantic's most famous medieval treasure.” —Prof. Jesse Byock, author of VIKING LANGUAGE: Learn Old Norse, Runes, and Icelandic Sagas
“Always lively, engaging, thoughtful, humorous, and to the point, ... She draws a colorful picture of what life may have been like at the time and brings the fate of known but long-gone men and women close to the heart of the modern reader.” —Gisli Sigurdsson, The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies
“With obvious linguistic skill and respect for historical detail as well as a passion for travel to unearth the truth, Brown offers a tantalizing trail of plausibility.” —Patrick J. Stevens, Librarian/Curator, Cornell University Library
“An intriguing work that should find a readership among history lovers.” —Library Journal
07/01/2015
Throughout the ages, chess sets have provided inspiration for sculptors to create thematically linked miniature works of art. One of the oldest and most famous examples of this is the Lewis chessman, which was discovered in Scotland. These old sets appear to have Viking designs and are carved from walrus ivory. Here, Viking historian Brown (Song of the Vikings) lays out the various competing theories about their origin and presents a cogent argument that a woman referred to in one of the sagas as Margret the Adroit may have created these sets in Iceland in 1,200 CE. Along the way, we learn a great deal about the Vikings as raiders and traders, and their impact on world history. To those of us accustomed to seeing the map of the world in Mercator projection, it is illuminating to realize how close together locations in the high latitudes are to one another. Thus, Norway, Scotland, Iceland, and even Greenland were connected for this intrepid, seafaring people. VERDICT An intriguing work that should find a readership among history lovers.—Harold D. Shane, mathematics emeritus, Baruch Coll. Lib., CUNY
2015-06-01
The investigation into the origins of the 92 ivory chessmen discovered on the Isle of Lewis in the early 1800s provides a good avenue for Brown (Song of the Vikings: Snorri and the Making of Norse Myths, 2012, etc.) to explore the rich tapestry of Icelandic and Viking history. Iceland was a primary source of walrus ivory and produced more indigenous literature than any other language save Latin in the 11th and 12th centuries. The author tells of the intriguing "dragon scale," which rates the historicity of the tales; the more dragons, trolls, ghosts, and walking dead, the less likely the accuracy of the saga. They were categorized as Family Sagas, Sagas of Ancient Times, Kings' Sagas, and Contemporary Sagas, with the Family and Contemporary scoring low on the dragon scale. Reading the medieval sagas in the original Icelandic, Brown has extra insight into the life of Iceland's golden age, and she finds frequent references to the culture of chess, royal gifts of chessmen, and actual chess matches. Chess was invented in India, taken to Persia by the mid-500s, and moved with Persian silver into the global trade routes. It was a king's game of strategy and courtly love, initially with only one king, highly outnumbered. The author shows how different pieces evolved, as the vizier became first a weak queen, and then strong, and rooks become berserks, Odin's warriors. Dating the delightfully quirky Lewis chessmen around 1200, Brown notes that their Romanesque style continued its popularity in Iceland. She is convincing in her assertion that Bishop Pall of Skalholt commissioned one of his four artisans, Margret the Adroit, to carve them. Photos of the chessmen enhance the narrative. Well-written and scholarly without being pedantic—an enlightening history of the broad influence the Vikings exerted in a very short period.
