'The Mystery of the Lewis Chessmen' - What Are They & Where Did They Come From?

A short 'mock-lecture' presented by the President of The Cape Breton University Society (Avery).
Even if you've never played chess, odds are, you have heard of it. In this short 'mock-lecture,' The Cape Breton University Society will explain what The Lewis Chessmen are. Believed to have originated in Norway, but were later discovered in Scotland in 1831, the Lewis Chessmen are not all that they seem. Beyond their simple, but quaint ascetic, the Chessmen hold many secrets.
Music used in video:
Short But Strong! by Savfk | / savfkmusic
Music promoted by www.free-stock-music.com
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
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[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

The symbol on right the pawn is actually the Anglo-saxon rune letter G, called "Gar" ( spear ). As in Gerald and other names starting with Ger or Gar. ( Gerard - skillfull with the spear).

[@orangetoes223]

Fun fact: Medieval chess moves were different. The queen could only move one space diagonally, the bishop moved like a checker, knights, rooks and the king move the same. Pawns were mostly the same but there was no pawn skip or en passant.

[@philipb2110]

Another Pop Culture reference would be in the first season of the Hulu series Castle Rock. They are featured quite prominently in the series.

[@groussac]

Pop culture reference in Searching for Bobby Fischer: The chess piece that Josh finds in the park at the beginning of the movie appears to be a replica of a knight from the Lewis Chessmen.

[@rubymax3175]

Further pop culture reference between Agatha Christie and Harry Potter is "Noggin the Nog" an animated children's TV programme in the 1960s from Peter Firmin who based his characters on the Lewis chessmen

[@irenemackinnon1476]

Very interesting video

[@zzzcherryzzz]

Great video, thanks for making. Yes, as said, the Queen at this time moved one square diagonally and therefore was weak. Pawns are important in chess, they kind of like hold it all together, without them, the game would be 'chaos'. And yes, as someone said, pawns can become very powerful and of course, they can promote on the final rank.

[@hector9586]

The Queen was actually the weakest on the early time of Chess, it got much better as an attacking piece in the 15th Century, also the pawns aren't bad, they are the backbone of the game, and they can be as powerful as a rook in certain positions. But that being said, it's really interesting the history of the pieces.

[@thetruenorthgardener2806]

great little documentary, maybe its just me, but the horse facing forward looks similar to the Icelandic horse

[@ricardogulpe6328]

Further pop culture reference would be “Noggin The Nog”, an animated children’s tv program by Peter Firmin whom based the character on the “Isles of Lewis Chessmen Warder” and “Castle Rock” Netflix Original series season 1 (episode 7) proving the “worldwide sensation” of the “Isles of Lewis Chessmen” that even invaded “Hollywood’s Silver Screen & Television’s Giant App Netflix”!!! “CIAO!”

[@peterribolli8300]

Any chance you could give some size dimensions of the pieces so that those of us not lucky enough to see them in real life , can get a feel or sense of their size and the space they inhabit.