# Ivory Vikings: The Mystery of the Most Famous Chessmen in the Wor - Hardcover

by **Nancy Marie Brown** (Author)

**"A fascinating tale of discovery and mystery." --_The Minneapolis Star Tribune_  
**  
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.

### 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.

**Number of Pages:** 288

**Dimensions:** 1.3 x 9.1 x 6.4 IN

**Publication Date:** September 01, 2015

## Details

- **Price:** 35.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 35.00 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Ivory Vikings: The Mystery of the Most Famous Chessmen in the Wor - Hardcover
- Ivory Vikings: The Mystery of the Most Famous Chessmen in the Wor - Hardcover
- Ivory Vikings: The Mystery of the Most Famous Chessmen in the Wor - Hardcover

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