The Pawns That May Not Belong

The Lewis chessmen are celebrated as a collection, but they may never have formed one neat, complete set. Their pawns are at the center of the mystery.

An Unusual Army

Nineteen pawns survive, even though a complete chess set requires sixteen. Unlike the kings, queens, bishops, knights, and warders, the pawns are not carved as people. They are simple geometric forms—cylinders and shapes resembling tombstones, perhaps intended to represent boundary markers.

Their heights vary from 3.5 to 5.8 centimeters, a wider range than among the other pieces. That variation has suggested that the 79 chess pieces may belong to at least five sets. Yet this interpretation depends partly on modern expectations. Medieval makers may not have intended their sets to be uniform, especially in an age before factory production made identical pieces commonplace.

A Hoard, Not a Boxed Set

The contrast between abstract pawns and sculpted officers is unique among known medieval chess sets. It is possible that the pawns were not made for the same sets as the figurative pieces—or that different conventions were deliberately combined.

The fourteen tablemen found with the chess pieces add another layer. These pieces, used for backgammon or similar games, are largely undecorated, unlike other examples from the period. They may even have been unfinished, waiting for later carving.

The Lewis hoard may therefore be less like a preserved chess set and more like a medieval dealer’s stock, workshop collection, or group of objects gathered for transport. Its imperfection is part of its power: the gaps and mismatches allow history to remain visible.