Lewis Chessmen

The Lewis Chessmen are among the most celebrated archaeological finds ever unearthed in Scotland. Discovered in 1831 in a sand bank at Uig Bay on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, the hoard comprises 93 intricately carved pieces, most fashioned from walrus ivory with a small number worked in whale tooth. They are believed to have been made in Norway, probably in Trondheim, in the late 12th or early 13th century, a period when the Hebrides lay within the Norse cultural world.

The pieces include kings and queens with brooding expressions, mitred bishops, mounted knights, foot soldiers and the famous berserkers, warders chewing the rims of their shields in battle frenzy. Their wide-eyed, almost comic intensity has made them instantly recognisable, and they inspired the wizard chess scene in the Harry Potter films. Eleven of the figures are held by the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, where a permanent gallery puts them on public display, while the larger portion of the hoard is kept at the British Museum in London.

Seeing the chessmen in person rewards the visit. At close range the carving detail of beards, throne backs and chain mail is remarkable, and they offer a vivid window onto medieval life in the Norse-Gaelic world.