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

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 Wizards Chess with them in Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. Housed at the British Museum, they are among its most visited and beloved objects.Questions abounded Who carved them? Where? Nancy Marie Browns 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.