♜ “The rooks are shown as wild-eyed #berserkers biting their shields with battle fury” ♖

The Lewis chessmen are a group of distinctive 12th century chess pieces most of which are carved from walrus ivory. Discovered in 1831 on Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, they may constitute some of the few complete, surviving medieval chess sets.

The rooks are shown as wild-eyed berserkers biting their shields with battle fury. With their bulging eyes and glum expressions they have a distinctly comic character. This is especially true of one rook with a worried, sideways glance and the berserker rooks biting their shields, which have been called "irresistibly comic to a modern audience". It is believed, however, that the comic or sad expressions were not intended or perceived as such by the makers, who instead saw strength, ferocity, or in the case of the queens who hold their heads with a hand and seemingly pensive expression, "contemplation, repose, and possibly wisdom". en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_chessmen

CC BY-SA picture from Wikimedia Commons w.wiki/BhZz

Some rights reserved

Taken in: UK / Scotland / Uig (show map)

Taken on: January 1, 1831

Tags:

lewis-chessmen

chess

lewis

scotland

british-museum

berserker

berserkers

rooks

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knight

battle

berserk

comic

comedy

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Sets appears in: • Amused • Gamed

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