At the same time, another of the Kings looks overweight, melancholy, and a little overwhelmed. In particular, one King has long braided hair that Ragnar Lothbrok would have sported on today's television shows. The Kings, too, portray a lot of character. The Queens are probably the most detailed, with empathic faces, brooding postures, and gestures that show just how Viking queens were involved in their people's rule. Each one (except for the pawns, which are just shapes) shows tremendous personality. The Lewis Chessmen are not just remarkable for their backstory, though. Ideas also traveled on this route, including chess. Through this arc, furs, honey, wax, slaves, weapons, exotic animals, whalebone, and walrus tusk ivory made their way east while silks, luxuries, and plenty of silver made their way west. The Vikings of the Kievan Rus traded along the Volga and Dnieper Rivers with the fabled lands of the East in a trade network known as the Northern Arc. Not friends of Charlemagne or his progeny, the Vikings most likely encountered chess (or the version in use then, called shatranj) through their contacts with the Byzantine Empire and through direct contact with Islamic ambassadors and merchants. However, the magnificent pieces on display in Paris are almost certainly of Norman/Italian and from much later. The Abbasid caliph, Harun al-Rashid (of 1001 Arabian Nights fame), even gifted an ivory chess set to Emperor Charlemagne. This game quickly spread to Persia and across the silk roads of the flourishing Arab world by the 9 th century. Chaturanga had pieces with different properties and revolved around capturing a king. However, most experts identify an ancient game from India called chaturanga as the earliest known chess precursor.

Games involving boards, pieces, and strategy were widespread throughout human history, especially in Asia and Europe.

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