Lewis Chessmen from Iceland - Argument Continued

Chessbase presents the latest in the continuing epic of whether the Lewis chess pieces were created in Iceland or created in Norway (most likely in Trondheim).

The Lewis Chessmen: Lilleøren's final remark
27.03.2012– The Icelandic-Norwegian battle over the origin of the famous (infamous?) Lewis Chessmen – a collection of chess pieces, handcrafted in the 12th century – has been waging for almost two years now. The Norwegian critic of the Icelandic theory, Morten Lilleøren, has sent us final remarks. With it we close our discussion of the subject, which may be continued in archeological and historical journals.

I won't go into blah blah blah - the denials are about the same, as per the usual "cannot see the forest for the trees" blinders that experts put on when challenged by non-intelligentsia.  The nerve of those non-intellectuals!

Really, darlings, what difference does it make to the greater picture that there are not any Icelandic sagas known to have survived that are older or date about to the date of the Lewis chessmen? That proves nothing.

It does, however, make a difference that bishop pieces - that is BISHOP - as in the Roman Catholic Church version of the cleric, are known to pre-date the Lewis pieces, including one piece presented in the Chessbase article by Morten Lilleoren.  He states that this piece:

which he identifies as: 

A chess bishop carved of walrus ivory. The ivory itself has been radiocarbon dated within the usual 95% probability to 770-990 CE.

Also, note that the bishop’s miter is worn facing sideways, to borrow Robinson’s description, rather that frontally. This miter orientation predates the frontally worn type, which is found among the Lewis chessmen.

Changing focus, and viewing the canopy/piece as a whole, the old Arabic abstract shape of the alfil piece (with horns) is visible, too.

The bishop that predates the Lewis chessmen. From the private collection of Jean-Jaques Marquet, curator of the Louvre.

is evidence that those arguing for an Icelandic origin of the Lewis pieces are full of baloney.

Hmmmm, seems to me, however, that this may prove just the opposite.  If the Bishop piece was this widespread elsewhere in Europe for a couple hundred years before the date the Lewis chess pieces were made, why would the Bishop as a chess piece not also have been known and used and made/carved/ and possibly even distributed abroad from a production center in Iceland?

In the greater picture, it is, in fact, quite possible.  The piece the writer uses to discount the Icelandic theory rather, in fact, would seem to support their argument just by virtue of its very existence and age!

I don't think this argument is over.  Let's see what develops.

This Chessbase article does include a list of the articles discussing the "argument" and it's worth reading them over, if  you're interested either in this argument or the development of medieval western chess in general.  Well worth the time.  So says this amateur chess "herstorian."

Iceland, Not Trondheim?????

From The New York Times Arts Beat:

August 16, 2011, 12:30 pm
They’re Chess Pieces. They’re Old. O.K. They’re From Norway. Oh, Yeah?
By DYLAN LOEB MCCLAIN

Icelandic piece - the fore-runner of the Lewis chess pieces?

Scholars have long thought that the Lewis Chessmen — eight-century-old chess pieces carved mostly out of walrus tusk that were found on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, in 1831 — were made in Trondheim, Norway.

Last year two chess aficionados in Iceland, Gudmundur G. Thorarinsson and Einar S. Einarsson, set out to prove that the pieces were actually from their country.

Though the two men are not scholars — Mr. Thorarinsson is a civil engineer and a former member of the Icelandic Parliament and Mr. Einarsson is a former president of Visa Iceland — they put up a web site expounding their theory and attended a conference at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh to present their case before leading authorities.

Their quest might have seemed like a knight’s errand (or perhaps a fool’s, which was the original name for the bishop chess piece in much of Europe), but their perseverance may be paying off.

On Friday there will be a symposium in Skalholt, Iceland, where two of the world’s foremost scholars on the pieces, James Robinson of the British Museum and David H. Caldwell of the National Museums of Scotland, will lecture on their possible origin. The Icelandic theory is on their minds. A chess piece made of fish bone that seems to be from roughly the same period as the Lewis Chessmen and resembles the berserkers (or rooks) of the Lewis sets was found recently in Siglunes, Iceland.

In an e-mail on Monday, Dr. Caldwell wrote: “I have an open mind about where the chessmen were made. We said Trondheim when we did our exhibition, but that was really just a guess. Now some colleagues are saying Iceland, and maybe that is the case.” Or maybe not. “I have still to hear incontrovertible evidence for it,” he added.

12th Chess Piece Excavated in Iceland

Exciting new find!  Unfortunately, no details about the size of the piece or the particulars of the excavation (?) were given. With a shield and what looks like a pike (weapon held close to figure's right side), what chess piece is it?  A pawn?  That was my first thought - but -- see the article after also posted below and compare the recovered piece to a "rook" from the Lewis chess pieces.  From Iceland Review Online

30.07.2011 | 10:57
Twelfth Century Chess Piece Discovered

A chess piece cut out of herringbone was among the objects found in an archeology expedition at Siglunes by Siglufjordur. According [to] Fréttabladid team leader Birna Lárusdóttir thinks that most likely the piece was cut out in Iceland in the 12th or 13th century. The group found remains of camps for fishermen in the area, which is now in danger because of waves breaking down the coast.

Siglunes is the farm of Thormódur rammi, the first settler in Siglufjördur according to Landnáma, the Book of Settlements in Iceland.

It is clear that the habitants had a lot to do. Besides the chess piece the team found a comb made of bone and dice for games. In addition some whale and fish bones were discovered, giving and indication of what was caught and eaten.

The chess piece was wearing a helmet and weapons.

Lárusdóttir said that she hopes that research will continue in Siglunes in the future.

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31.07.2011 | 09:44
New Theory: The Lewis Chess Pieces Stem from Iceland

The discovery of a chess piece at Siglunes reported yesterday has strengthened engineer and chess enthusiast Gudmundur G. Thórarinsson in his belief in his new theory that a remarkable set of chess pieces, the Lewis Chessmen, is of Icelandic origin.

The Lewis Chessmen are a group of 78 chess pieces from the 12th century most of which are carved in walrus ivory, discovered in 1831 on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. [Image: one of the warder or rook pieces from the Lewis cache of chess pieces, discovered in 1831. Scandinavian (Norwegian) (?) (ca. 1150-1200). Walrus ivory. H. 6 cm (2.4 in.). Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. © The Trustees of the British Museum.  Cf. to image of chess piece from Siglunes Farm.]

Until recently, the best guess among scholars and historians was that the chessmen probably originated in Trondheim, Norway. But in 2010, Gudmundur G. Thórarinsson put forward a compelling new theory about the enigma of the origin of these unique chess pieces.
Thórarinsson is best know as chairman of the Icelandic Chess Federation during the Fischer Spassky Match of the Century for the World Championship in Chess, held in Reykjavík in 1972. He was later member of Althingi, Iceland’s parliament. Thórarinsson is an impressive speaker and is well known for his supreme knowledge of Shakespeare's works, parts of which he knows by heart.

His tantalizing hypothesis -- based on circumstantial evidence -- is that the Lewis Chessmen might have been handcrafted in Iceland at the old workshop at Skálholt under the guidance of Bishop Páll Jónsson and his team of Margrét the Adroit, Thorsteinn the Schrinesmith and other craftsmen. (The ruins of the old workshop and its scrap heap is still lying there untouched, awaiting excavation).

Skálholt in southern Iceland, about an hours drive from Reykjavík, was the seat of the bishops from 1056 to 1801.

On Friday, August 19th, 2011, Skálholt will host a SYMPOSIUM on the possible origins of the mystical and most precious artifacts, the Lewis Chessmen, which date from the late 12th century. The Lewis Chessmen are the world's oldest chess pieces that bear the features of modern chessmen. [What is meant by the term "modern?"  For instance, the Afrasiab pieces, found in Iran and dating to the mid 700's CE, are clearly figural, not abstract as in the later Islamic style, and are universally acknowledged by chess historians as chess pieces from a set.]

The proposed Agenda for the Lewis Chessmen Symposium at Skálholt includes 6-7 short lectures (15-20 min. each) delivered by 2-3 esteemed scholars from overseas, e.g. David H. Caldwell from the National Museum of Scotland and James Robinson of the British Museum. Both of them have recently authored books on the enigma of the Lewis Chessmen. Next on the agenda will be Gudmundur G. Thórarinsson who will summarize and expound upon his new theory. Following Thórarinsson, several Icelandic scholars and professors will speak about Bishop Páll and the theme of the conference. The agenda will be further augmented by an open session. The Symposium will be held in English and is open to all.

A New Theory on the Origin of the Lewis Chess Pieces

Kudos to Dylan Loeb McClain for this article from his Gambit blog at The New York Times.

September 7, 2010, 12:30 pm
A New Theory on the Origin of the Lewis Chessmen
By DYLAN LOEB MCCLAIN

[Excerpted.]

"Oy vey!  A new theory on the Lewis Chess Pieces!"

Scholars have studied the pieces since they were discovered and say that based on the style of their carvings they were made between 1150 and 1200 A.D., most likely in Trondheim, Norway. On Saturday, Sept. 11, there will be a conference on the Lewis Chessmen at the Scottish national museums timed to coincide with a tour of some of the pieces, called “The Lewis Chessmen: Unmasked.”

The question of the provenance of the chessmen may seem academic, even trivial. But scholars say their design, how they were created, who created them, even why they were made reveal important clues to the history and development of the North Sea region.

The two men pushing Iceland as the birthplace of the pieces are two chess aficionados, Gudmundur G. Thorarinsson and Einar S. Einarsson. According to a Web site created to explain his theory, Mr. Thorarinsson is a civil engineer and a former member of the Icelandic Parliament. Mr. Einarsson, a former president of Visa Iceland and a friend of the late chess champion Bobby Fischer, is helping to promote the idea.

They wrote e-mails to the organizers of the Scottish conference asking that the Icelandic theory be added to the agenda, but they said they were told the schedule had already closed. Still, they say they plan to attend and discuss the idea with scholars there.

Rest of article.

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It really is a shame that Thorarinsson and Einarsson weren't able to officially present their intriguing hypothesis to the Conference.  Unfortunately, pointed exclusion is a method that has so often been used to shut out the voices of people who disagree with the accepted line. 

Thank Goddess for the internet. 

Through its power, hypotheses and theories - no matter how far out they may seem - may now be discovered and pondered over.  It is no longer an academically controlled shut-out on people who like to think Outside The Box.  Isn't that what we are supposed to do?  Stimulate discussion.  Stimulate thinking.

Personally, I believe that Thorarinsson and Einarsson  have advanced a viable hypothesis that is worth further exploration and discussion.  Just off the cuff, I found the "bishop" information very compelling.  Check out their website: The Origin of the Lewis Chessmen.