2/2 The Lewis Chessmen - Masterpieces of the British Museum

Episode 3/6 Amongst the most appealing objects in the British Museum is a 12th century chess set.

[@Athlynne]

Thank you, I've been fascinated by the Lewis chessmen since I first heard of them. I wish we knew more about them!

[@molecatcher3383]

The Island of Lewis was ruled by Norway until 1266, when it was transferred to Scotland. So finding 12th century chess pieces there that had come from Norway is maybe not so surprising.

[@teukel1157]

Fascinating. Clearly the hand to cheek queen was explained by the custom of the times and how Mary was portrayed. People love a mystery at the expense of common sense and understanding. Just look at politics. Also, in part one, professor says the farmer probably felt fear when first discovered in the sand. Complete conjecture. My money says professor is the scaredy cat not the toiling farmer. All in all, great understanding and insights.

[@mickfadang]

very informative. but for so much research, why can't you get the BOARD sitting in the right position!!

[@blipblip88]

Fun and informative little documentary. I enjoyed the theories about why they were hidden and why the queen was posed as she was.

[@pyewackett5]

Great ! Have always loved the Lewis Chessmen. Enjoyed every minute. Thanks

[@martinstent5339]

The queen obviously has toothache. That’s why she is holding her cheek. Her medicine is in the horn in her other hand. Probably ground up cloves.

[@capnrob97]

I have a replica set coming in the mail today. Amazing a game so old is still played today. I think I read somewhere there are more chess books published than any other subject.

[@withlovefromrussia]

Lucky you. I can't afford them, yet. How is it playing with them?

[@cyndifoore7743]

I love these pieces, I bought a replica set for my son when I visited the British Museum.

[@danchitwood6783]

"So what did you do today?" "Watched a long article about a chess set. Just couldn't put it down."

[@silverbirch4444art]

WONDERFUL! I love this :)

[@eedwardgrey2]

6:22 glad to know table flipping isn't new

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

Actually one of the pawn sets display the Anglo-Saxon Gar (G) rune, meaning spear, which suggests the pawns were seen as the arms of the other pieces...

[@earlspencer7863]

9:45 love the relaxing music

[@atlerthedark3639]

The berserkers give me chills

[@lestermiller2717]

I used to have two ivory figures from a chess set but mine where made in the 1700 period still very kool looking.

[@DaneStolthed]

Excellent documentary, I would love to own a replica set of the Lewis Chessmen.

[@taran333tula]

+DaneStolthed ...... www.britishmuseumshoponline.org/lewis-chessmen/icat/lewis_chessmen www.regencychess.co.uk/isle-of-lewis-full-size-chessmen-and-chess-board-gift-pack-p-995.html?zenid=87985e6d2b3269be7c3409427f710af7

[@jezz2k]

I made my own using moulds of 2 different sets, and made my own moulds for a third set of the pieces in the Scottish Museum, after buying replicas. Also made the similar Leipzig set. There are also two modern sets influenced by the Lewis pieces: Dragon Hunt and Gothic Lewis. Made my own sets of those too.

[@DaneStolthed]

jezz2k I don't suppose you have a web site?

[@jezz2k]

DaneStolthed No sorry, I don't, although I did upload my chess variant to this site: www.chessvariants.com/multiplayer.dir/chesskingdom.html Imagine playing a large game like that with 4 unique Lewis and Lewis-style sets. Well thats my plan anyway. Haven't made the board yet!

[@stephenNI]

jezz2k did you use resin and how did you age them? I was thinking of doing the same

[@hugmyster]

I loved the show and have always loved Noggin the Nog, but one more thing also got me, and gets me still... What is the beautiful haunting piano piece they keep playing throughout, including at the end of the episode? I've been looking for it ever since!

[@geopat4298]

It's Clearwaters by James S. Levine

[@jayr7770]

Fantastic pieces and the history/ mystery surrounding them is very interesting, but can't believe that they can't set a chess board the right way round for a documentary!

[@kenc2257]

Well, this isn't a program about chess, per se (obviously); it's specifically about the Lewis Chessmen. I have no interest in chess, but find these chess pieces fascinating (watched several "documentary" programs, and read about the pieces, re-watched the "Harry Potter" chess battle, etc.).

[@sssfff]

Any chess players will tell you the Queen is thinking hard about the next move, hence the hand.

[@hathor1985]

The Lewis Chessmen have a special aura around them,a kind of magic,waiting to be activated when the original chess board will be found, if ever......

[@theRhinsRanger]

HATHOR - the board was found, the squares of metal and ivory had been dismantled and built into a chastity belt I think you call it, basically it was armoured pants to stop females wandering. Apparently the chess player had some serious self esteem and trust issues

[@khasab6124]

@@theRhinsRanger bollocks

[@llewelynshingler2173]

@@khasab6124 For starters, the belts where to ward off male advances. For a continuation, this is a dubious claim

[@khasab6124]

@@llewelynshingler2173I know what a chastity belt is pal and this claim (not by me) is driveling nonsense which is why i wrote "bollocks" 2 years ago, you might have realised... I've no idea why you are commenting to me! comment to the idiot who said the board was made into a chastity belt. I certainly never claimed any such crap. No belt was found. the poor idiot probably read that along with the chess pieces they found a single belt *buckle* . (not a chastity belt) It looks like you foolishly believe in the existence of chastity belts as well; I feel sorry for you. now go away

[@michaellilly405]

Excellent video. NIce details. It's unfortunate that the boards are not properly set up. But I forgive them. Film makers routinely fail to put the white square to the lower right of the player, and usually fail to put the queens on their own color.

[@Bert-xi1dn]

Michael Lilly If the board is placed erroneously with a white square in the lower left corner the queen has her proper place on the square she was put. Still a silly mistake to make in a professional production. Enjoyed watching it though.

[@c.e.schlink9933]

Spoken like a true, purist, obsessive Chess player!

[@khasab6124]

@@Bert-xi1dn no she should be 5th from the right, not 4th

[@jpdemer5]

If by "routinely", you mean 1/2 of the time - although I think that the occasional director will be a chess player, which should shift the odds slightly.

[@tomaszbazant8455]

Excelent video. Michael, firstly when i wathcedthis documentary I noticed a same thing, but notice that both of sets of pieces are whole white, well where should be put a king and a queen of each army? For example in 7:30 or so. I think that they put pieces right.

[@michaellilly405]

I see what you are saying. Maybe those are the dark pieces. But they still put the dark square in the lower right hand corner for each player, so that makes it impossible to set up properly. The board must be oriented with a light square in the lower right.

[@jezz2k]

One side was painted in either betroot or red wine, but after hundreds of years, the colour has unfortunately faded.

[@khasab6124]

The only mystery about these is why such an obviously high quality chess set was taken to, and buried, on the island of lewis? How , why, did they end up there?

[@betty5064]

Noggin the Nog is a series of books.

[@debhurd8898]

Is that Irving Finkel talking about the game and the board? It sounds like my fav Dr. Finkel, but alot younger.

[@madhatter6790]

anybody get any Alice through the looking glass vibes from the very idea of the set? The pieces were found on the isle of Lewis, the name Charles Ludwig Dodgson used as a pen name when writing his Alice stories, one story included Alice traversing a huge chessboard land to become a queen. The pieces were made of walrus ivory, the walrus being a character from the poem the walrus and the carpenter which appeared in Alice through the looking glass. It's odd how these things work out right?

[@Janet52young]

Wow. You really sent my husband and me down a rabbit hole. I’m a huge fan of Chad and Jeremy. Sadly Chad Stuart died December 2021. They recorded an album “Of Cabbages and Kings” in 1967. It begins with “The Time has come, the Walrus said, to talk of many things...” The cover is very psychedelic. The back cover is a chess board. I’ve had this album since 1967 and never connected to the Lewis chessmen, which were discovered the same year Charles Dodgson was born. 😊

[@CrazyWatcher670]

0:29 In Eastern chess Bishop was Camel. Bishops did not replaced Elephants, rooks replaced elephants.

[@sssfff]

In Chinese Chess the Bishops became "Cannons" (sounds like "Pow"), which captures by jumping over a piece, vertically or horizontally. The Prime ministers and Sentries next to the King in Chinese Chess go diagonally, like the Bishops, but cannot cross the "river" (the middle boundary between the 2 camps. No Queens in Chinese Chess.

[@danilofubelli799]

1:10 I can't believe they set the board up wrong. All that knowledge and they fumble with the basics.

[@beaulieuonnp593]

Maybe they were made for sailors? They are very sturdy, for 'man's hands'. I have a set at home that my dad made us and I think they are easy to see as well, rather than the small chess sets we see today, we can actually see their faces from a distance. I think they are quite practical. I prefer using my Lewis chess set than modern chess sets. Also there is a woman in the set so 'it is not just chess men'. My chess set looks a bit different so some of the replicas are not really that great #uk

[@theRhinsRanger]

Good Scottish documentary lol........"they are called Prawns"

[@magik8566]

If you are going to do a documentary on chessmen, at least position the board with the white square bottom right and the Queen on its own colour (at 1:23, 14:12 etc).

[@SuperSnugglemonster]

The least expensive replica Lewis chess set in British Museum gift shop is £199, which is too pricey.

[@jeffk1722]

This is a nice documentary, but the orientation of the board (not the pieces) is... 90 degrees wrong. Oh well, same game either way.

[@sanjanewmoonlife]

I mostly always win in this game when I'm playing 🌏❤️💕🌍🙏💃💃😇🆗☺️

[@landrovervideos1182]

My great grandad used to tell us that his ancestors ordered 4 sets of chess paid for them but were never delivered, do I have a claim? and I’m Scottish

[@n3mn64]

they were also the pieces harry potter played in the dining hall of hogwarts

[@KougajiCalling]

Francis Capada That was Irving Finkles's personal set of replicas! (The old man with the away beard)

[@fredygump5578]

How old is this? Irving Finkle looks 20-30 years younger than he does now!

[@KougajiCalling]

fredy gump It's from 2006. So... ATM, it's 12 years old.

[@ek8710]

I think this is from 2003

[@debhurd8898]

I noticed that too. I thought it wasn't him there for a few minutes, but his lovely sounding voice gave him away. He looks alot younger here.

[@s.mcchristy9704]

A couple questions: Was Norway a Roman Catholic country at the time these Bishop pieces were made? If not then what? British Isles were Catholic... Then, where are the contrasting colored pieces? You must have contrasting tones otherwise the confusion would make them unplayable...

[@Athlynne]

Maybe the ones that were stained red were intentionally done so! Good question, I was wondering this myself. Without different colors, you'd have to memorize the details of your own queen, your own pawns, etc.

[@lucaswilliams3806]

I had one of these sets when I was growing up and they're not as resistant to breaking as was made out

[@debhurd8898]

Made from walrus ivory??

[@khasab6124]

Not Staunton design though, so you couldn't use them in a competition :)

[@noahcrow8982]

Staunton sucks anyways.

[@andrewlankford9634]

The Queen always has a toothache. If rooks are supposed to represent chariots instead of castles, those chariots prolly didn't take corners very well.

[@MrEolicus]

1:16 Wrong... the chess board is in the wrong position, it should be rotated ninety degrees. And the white King goes into a black square, the white Queen goes into a white square. This documentary is about the most famous chess set in the world, and yet whoever did it, did not even bother to understand how the chess pieces are set on the chessboard... makes me wonder with what care the rest of the information was collected...

[@weeblelehmann466]

Wait, so Harry Potter's chess set "appears" in the past and we're still burning calories on this mystery? (Face slap). Dear Science, sometimes the answer is "Magic"

[@theallseeingmaster]

I know why the Queen looks worried, she IS worried. On either side of her, in the back row, are all of her male children and her husband, the King, beside her; they are in imminent danger of death. What mother or wife wouldn't worry? What else was there to do for spare royal male offspring during the middle ages? They went into the church(bishops) the professional military (knights) or they ran their fathers estates (rooks) and kept the peasants in line and the economy moving. That's how I always looked at the back row, one big family fighting for dominance over another; real dog eat dog stuff but for thinking people.

[@theRhinsRanger]

Brought back by early crusaders?

[@khasab6124]

erm...no they are Scandinavian, didn't you listen?

[@hrvojenimac8076]

First ch. Made in india 4 pleyer

[@gagoole123]

Rook comes from Persian word rokh ( رخ ) which means tower.

[@boredwarlock5216]

Irving Finkle is the greatest

[@debhurd8898]

I.love.him. I wish he was my husband.😊

[@agustasister5624]

I perfer my north and south set...

[@aaronjaben7913]

with Sherman's "inevitable bow tie"??

[@juratek9898]

well done. 78 pieces found in Scotland and only 11 are left in Scottish Nat. Museum. The rest are in London. WHY?! why not opposite?!

[@LuisRamos-ou8zb]

Simple. Because the Scottish Museum did NOT want to pay for them and the English Museum DID PAY! As always, who has the LOOT has the GOOD!

[@earlspencer7863]

More ppl will see them in London that's really what ultimately counts

[@kenc2257]

The Scottish Museum had a fundraising drive to purchase the pieces--that effort didn't fare well (didn't raise enough funds)...

[@jaybe2908]

Well they were made in Norway why not send them back there! or they come from a walrus why not give them back to a walrus family!

[@roniquebreauxjordan1302]

Allegorical....#WestMeetsEast

[@hrvojenimac8076]

3d game

[@Georgexb]

at 7:30 the queen is on the wrong sqaure

[@khasab6124]

@1978ajax the board IS the wrong way round.

[@khasab6124]

@1978ajax I do know. see 4:15 There should be a white square on your right from either side of the board. . it's the wrong way round.

[@WillN2Go1]

3:00 "We cannot take the language of our own gestures to be the one prevailing then." This is not a supportable statement. Paul Ekman has demonstrated that human facial expressions are universal. The hand gesture of the Queen may have a specific ancient context, or signal, that we may not be aware of. Facial expressions are timeless. The bug eyed look of the Lewis Chessmen is interpretable by us today. It looks worried, possibly overbearing, intense. I'm not sure our seeing it as humorous means it was intended as humorous a thousand years ago. Think of the laugh that might result from seeing a hundred year old photo of farmer standing upright, stiff and serious for a portrait. It may be a convention of the period Instead of the modern 'selfie' 'look at me I'm smiling, I am likable!" A hundred years ago you would simply stand up straight put on a serious expression and wait for the picture to be exposed. So this may be an expression of 'full attention,' which certainly applies to the game of chess. Consider the queen standing next to the king. That king could be placed along side Holbein's portrait of Henry VIII, substantial, in charge. The queen in contrast to the king does appear (to me) as concerned, or worried. the expression of her eyes is not that dissimilar to eyes of the 'Berserker' rooks, whose display of teeth biting their shield.

[@michaelpearson1272]

I don't believe the nonsense about the soldiers being cannon fodder. The soldiers where the most important they where there to protect the castle and all it's residenc king queen bishops and fight alongside the knights and the tombstones represent fighting to death. And nothing to do with cannon fodder for God's sake.

[@LouisPhung999]

Press like if Harry Potter is the reason you're interested in these chessmen.

[@khasab6124]

4:15 They have the board the wrong way round! That's a bit off for an educated documentary!

[@felipeoliveiramusic]

The queen just has a toothache. Period.

[@kalebgullan4157]

Chess men, even the queen is a man. Don’t tell me that’s a woman’s face

[@bastardtubeuser]

islamic chess lol ? like the religion invented it ? i dont get that naming at all, is this from the BBC i guess ?

[@macnutz4206]

The game was different in the Islamic world, it had different pieces and different rules of play. No bishops and no queen. they use the terms to distinguish between the two different traditions. It appears to have traveled from the Islamic world to the west. Islamic pieces were often non representational. No humans could be depicted, especially not faces, for religious reasons. So, it is perfectly valid to make references to Islamic chess sets.

[@scorpioninpink]

It actually originated in the Indian Subcontinent.

[@khasab6124]

you aren't listening carefully, it's what happens when prejudice interferes with comprehension

[@RatzoMcFatso]

What numbskull down votes this?