In the early 1800's, 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. 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.
Cary Grant : A Brilliant Disguise
Scott Eyman
audiobookGiants of French Literature : Balzac, Flaubert, Proust, and Camus
Katherine Elkins
audiobookHacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy
Gabriella Coleman
audiobookProust and the Squid : The Story and Science of the Reading Brain
Maryanne Wolf
audiobookLearning from Henri Nouwen and Vincent van Gogh
Carol A. Berry
audiobookThe Wisdom of Taoism
Frederic Henry Balfour
bookThe Yoga Of Gurdjieff
Swami Shankarananda
audiobookMaster Ma's Ordinary Mind : The Sayings of Zen Master Mazu Daoyi
Fumio Yamada
bookThe Unquiet Englishman
Richard Greene
audiobookTaoism for Beginners
Elizabeth Reninger
audiobookOne Thousand and One Nights (Complete Annotated Edition) : World's Literature Classics Series
Richard Francis Burton
bookWill the Drama Ever End?: Untangling and Healing from the Harmful Effects of Parental Narcissism
Karyl McBride
audiobookbook