The Viking World: A History in ObjectsMain MenuGallery viewA galleryTag Cloudtag cloud pageThemesA path of thematic categoriesAuthor IndexExplore the collection by authorWorks CitedReferencesAdam Bigelow3afa9c7ecebf516bba6609664b1b12f79c54bf77Caitlin Donahue61b7e986e7c71d400e5c803912ed83c0cf65252fCaroline Harvey1783f21a5882b5b4d3d0b6c174d058052a5ff7eaEdward Hershewee701ef220480b51ca728fc9c719bc094cf813655Martin Hoffmana1fd203afd9a84ee8db567e188cf6ed1d269386eTyler Hruby23493f763b312110686cfafc62578fd0ab5f3833Brittany N. Johnsonc1c1763339f8fa953e3c907c6bb8a3bad0c28b2cCarlos Lua Pineda0a28cc23b0aa00b4f24a9e205aeb57fbdb07ff01Moira McConnell710633400590ea38533ea3412c01fc5056288180Clara McCurdy9aec76477d0b55f9c685c47330d6786ec98182e1Elise McIlhaneyef48481634ff342c8b43c9d56f678b2d3562fb69Cameron Meikle669a5682bfbfd603130a26e25628f24eb07e6295Alexander Christopher Newkirk019c2f5b38c043507251d1789e2fdf47e61c3b7fBenja Reilly816c23aa0d444213fb2d1ef33555a15617e08228Oliver Statenc625ae8c3926f5e1a4268bc91d6a6f4cdb1e7fb6Liam Sullivanaa3a1dccb90c7fe4646b61c4af594abbb0c5574aRead Wilder31bf4715220144a665996f2e6cae80a1a8611eadAliza Yazdanicd49f227d88c72331226ddf574bf56c37308cd10Austin Masonf6137011c68eb792c6e14634815583b15e707dea
Equestrian Chess Piece
12017-05-19T14:00:11-07:00Read Wilder31bf4715220144a665996f2e6cae80a1a8611ead164562An incomplete figure of a knight carved from walrus ivoryplain2017-05-19T15:05:34-07:00Hildebrand, Gabriel. Schackpjäs. Still Image, 3–19, 2017. 3765. Statens historiska museum. http://mis.historiska.se/mis/sok/fid.asp?fid=42302&page=1&in=1.950-1100 AD3765CC BY57.735413, 14.745800Walrus IvoryHistoriska MuseetSolberga, SwedenEarly-High MedievalRead Wilder31bf4715220144a665996f2e6cae80a1a8611ead
This page has paths:
12017-05-24T10:09:20-07:00Austin Masonf6137011c68eb792c6e14634815583b15e707deaMap ViewAustin Mason2An interactive map of all the objects in the collectiongoogle_maps2017-05-24T11:39:30-07:00Austin Masonf6137011c68eb792c6e14634815583b15e707dea
This page is referenced by:
12017-05-19T21:52:37-07:00Equestrian Chess Piece13Object Pageplain2017-09-21T21:47:08-07:00Games figured prominently within Norse society, as both a sign of status and a form of entertainment. Many board games existed, hnefatafl, alea, and chess. By the end of the early medieval period, chess had become the dominant game of the courtly elite and would remain immensely popular into the 15th century. Chess originated in India, around the 5th century, and found its way to Europe through Arab traders. Over time, the game evolved and the medieval version of the game would be unfamiliar to contemporary players of the game.[1][2]
The chess piece featured here was found in Solberga, Sweden and dates roughly back to the Early Middle Ages. It is made from walrus ivory and is fashioned in the shape of figure on horseback. Although lacking its head, the piece appears to be the medieval equivalent of the modern knight piece.
The record of literature mentioning the game is scant until the later Middle Ages, but one major source does exist: Versus de scachis. An English translation can be found here: https://www.chess.com/blog/batgirl/early-modern-chess-writers-and-poets. Written circa 997, the work focuses entirely on the game of chess. It was written in Einsiedeln, now in modern Switzerland, so it is entirely possible that the manuscript was not read in the far northern reaches of Europe. It does, however, indicate a general awareness of the game within Europe and a degree of prestige with which it was associated. Many Anglo-Scandinavian leaders looked to the south for cultural cues and the chess piece found in Sweden may very well have been produced to imitate the latest trend among southern nobles.[3]
