By Guðmundur G. Thórarinsson.

The Lewis Chessmen are the world’s oldest chess pieces that bear the features of modern ones. They are also considered to be a great work of art. Their origin, however, remains a mystery and has been the source of lively debate among various scholars and institutions – chief among these being the British Museum and the National Museums of Scotland. Both museums count the Lewis Chessmen among their most treasured relics.

Until recently, the best guess among scholars and historians was that the chessmen probably originated in Trondheim, Norway. But in this publication Gudm. G. Thórarinsson puts forward a compelling new theory about the enigma of the origin of these unique masterpieces. His tantalizing hypothesis – based on circumstantial evidence – is that the Lewis Chessman might have been handcrafted in Iceland by Margrét the Adroit at the behest of Bishop Páll Jónsson in Skálholt 1195-1211.