skygiants | (no subject)

I picked up Ivory Vikings: The Mystery of the Most Famous Chessmen in the World and the Woman Who Made Them because a.) it was on top of the pile of "books in our house that have been borrowed that should be returned to their owners soon" and b.) the cover was a very attractively dramatic photo of the Lewis chessmen and I find it hard to resist an attractively dramatic chessmen photo.

There's a certain category of nonfiction literature that provides an intense aggregation of factual information in the interests of passionately arguing a remote hypothesis. As long as the information does in fact continue to be factual, and all hypotheses are in fact presented as appropriately hypothetical, I am fine with this, and I was also largely fine with it in this case despite the fact that the hypothesis being passionately argued is: a woman who is discussed as carving ivory in three (3) lines in one (1) saga, unrelated to chessmen, was definitely the carver of the Lewis chessmen.

(The three lines, for the record, are: "Margret made everything that Bishop Pall wanted"; "a bishop's crozier of walrus ivory, carved so skilfully that no one in Iceland had ever seen such artistry before; it was made by Margret the Adroit, who at that time was the most skilled carver in all Iceland;" and "Margret carved the walrus ivory extremely well." Kudos to Margret!)

In order to prove that this is a likely theory, Nancy Marie Brown takes us on a long journey to demonstrate that:

a.) Margret the Adroit plausibly existed
b.) the Lewis chessmen, which were discovered in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, could plausibly have been carved in Iceland
c.) the Lewis chessmen, which include kings, queens, bishops, knights, rooks (berserkers), and pawns, could plausibly have been commissioned specifically by Bishop Pall

Do I one hundred percent buy as fact an argument based in large part on considerations like "well, the Lewis chessmen are wearing a variety of hat styles and Icelandic soldiers often also didn't have a formal kit" and "well, what if some bishops hypothetically didn't like the sociopolitical implications of moving diagonally in a chessboard in service to a king"? Not necessarily! Did I enjoy wading through the vast accumulation of interesting detail about the respective histories of chess, Iceland, sagas, and ivory carving techniques that Nancy Marie Brown leverages in order to make these arguments? Sure! No regrets!

In conclusion, I leave you with the impeccable OKCupid profile of Kali Kolsson, the future earl of Orkney:

I am eager to play chess,
I have mastered nine skills,
I hardly forget the runes,
I am interested in books and carpentry.
I know how to ski,
my shooting and sailing skills are competent.
I can both play the harp and construe verse.

I forget why this was relevant to the specific argument about Margret the Adroit -- I think it had something to do with how widespread the game of chess was in Scandinavia in the 12th century -- but I am very glad to know about Kali Kolsson's wide array of skills and would be happy to meet up for a chess date sometime to talk about books and carpentry.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

nineveh_uk

With that profile, I would definitely swipe right on Kali Kolsson. Likes reading, poetry and skiing, perfect!

From:

legionseagle

Oy! He plays chess and admits his sailing is "competent"*. Bearing in mind egos are death in small boats, and most blokes go full Dunning-Kruger and assume their skills are "superb", I'm swiping right for his modesty alone.

*And he's hardly ever ~~sick at sea~~ too drunk to muddle his spelling.

From:

skygiants

One absolutely respects the decision not to overstate! He's happy to admit which skills he has mastered, which he's just competent in, and which he's simply interested in learning more about. Earl, know thyself!

From:

skygiants

I bet he also likes pina coladas and getting caught in the rain.

From:

osprey_archer

This sounds bananas in the most delightful possible way. I'm glad that Nancy Marie Brown followed her bliss to write this book and share her thesis with the world, if only because this allowed her to share with the world the existence of Margret the Adroit and Kali Kolsson.

From:

skygiants

To be fair to Nancy Marie, she's not alone: before she wrote her 300-word magnum opus, a pair of Icelandic chess aficionados presented their theory at a big Lewis chessmen conference, somewhat unofficially:

"These two characters came up from Iceland turned up unannounced, and crashed the seminar!" Caldwell told me, laughing about it in retrospect. "We didn't know how to handle it.

I just love these two dudes throwing open the door during the opening remarks, grabbing the mike, and shouting out the good word about Margret the Adroit!

From:

larryhammer

the impeccable OKCupid profile of Kali Kolsson

Which is quoted? from where?

From:

thistleingrey

Possibly Orkneyinga saga? but I too am curious whether it's actually in there. There's a bit of a habit of translators to attribute things to dear St Ronald that aren't exactly in the text.

ETA, two more minutes of thought: AFAIK our options are that saga and Heimskringla, so I am really curious.

Edited Date: 2020-12-22 08:58 pm (UTC)

From:

skygiants

It's not directly sourced in the book, but it does seem to be the Orkneyinga! Here's an article including the citation.

ETA: I maligned her, a few seconds more of looking and I did find her citation back to the Guðrún Nordal translation.

Edited Date: 2020-12-24 05:27 am (UTC)

From:

thistleingrey

Ah, cool. Thanks! And that is what the lines mean as quoted, too, no random perfume or onyx. :) I've read about half of Heimskringla but no Orkneyinga saga, so I'm not really justified in having random opinions about this stuff anyway.

From:

seekingferret

Off topic but I want to make sure you're aware of The Great Kosher Meat War of 1902. I'm halfway through it and it is incredibly delightful.

From:

skygiants

Thank you for the heads-up, that is indeed relevant to my interests!

From:

sovay

In conclusion, I leave you with the impeccable OKCupid profile of Kali Kolsson, the future earl of Orkney

How did it work out for him?

From:

skygiants

Could be better, could be worse -- he romances a beautiful Norman noble's daughter and writes ode in her honor all the way to Jerusalem, but never does seem to get far with her (but maybe that's part of the fun?). Brown describes him as "the most chivalrous of Norse heroes [...] This passage [about beautiful Ermingard] echoes other sagas -- but Kali does not take her to bed and beget on her his heir, as you might expect. Instead, he declaims a poem and sails away. All the way to Jerusalem, Kali and his pair of Icelandic poets make verses on the fair but unattainable lady."

Edited Date: 2020-12-24 05:33 am (UTC)

From:

superborb

...are there other members of this category of nonfiction that you'd rec?

From:

skygiants

Hm, I think the closest thing to this that I've read recently is Aphra Behn: A Secret Life, which does not have one singular thesis exactly, but is sort of a compendium of facts arranged in a way to suggest the most interesting possible conclusions about Aphra Behn while also willingly acknowledging that it's extremely possible none of those conclusions are correct. That's a very different and much more bibliographic sort of book, though.

From:

obopolsk

I was also largely fine with it in this case despite the fact that the hypothesis being passionately argued is: a woman who is discussed as carving ivory in three (3) lines in one (1) saga, unrelated to chessmen, was definitely the carver of the Lewis chessmen.

Wow, and I was feeling good about my ability to stretch an argument into a 10-page paper. I am not yet at Nancy Marie Brown's level!

From:

skygiants

What I've learned from Nancy Marie Brown is that if you want to prove any given point you are perfectly justified in starting off at the beginning of time, or at least at the beginning of chess!

From:

loligo

I am so glad you read these things and pass along the best bits!

From:

skygiants

Every so often I go a while without reading a nonfiction book, and then I pick one up again and am reminded all over again that facts are in fact really interesting!

From:

pengwern

my memory completely ignored the actual argument in favor of remembering random stuff about the walrus ivory, so ty for...summing up? I appreciate hearing about the actual factual tidbits! as well as looking at pictures of the shield-bitey buddies! (and eta I would absolutely like to get to know Kali Kolsson, whose virtues I evidently also missed last time qwq)

Edited Date: 2020-12-23 06:58 am (UTC)

From:

skygiants

lol, whereas I have already forgotten most of the facts about walrus ivory that Nancy Marie Brown went to such pains to teach me ... I'm sorry, Nancy Marie! I do remember the facts about tiny horses and the shapes of bishop's hats! I do also really enjoy looking at pictures of shield-bitey buddies.

From:

evelyn_b

1) Good job, Margaret the Adroit! I'm glad I opened up Dreamwidth today and learned about your (probable) existence.

2) this book sounds like a cranky gem that I will definitely buy for the cranky gem in my life

3) Kali Kolsson is also obviously a catch

From:

skygiants

Who could ask for anything more other than to do your job so well that you get shouted out in a saga for being extremely competent and nothing else?

Kali Kolsson is a certified Norwegian dreamboat!

From:

chestnut_pod

That’s a much more attractive profile than the standard!

And the book sounds like something my father might like as a gift (he loved prior hits “Shakespeare was a secret Catholic” and “Van Gogh was possibly murdered” and A History of X in N Objects generally), so thanks for turning me onto it!