Queens and Warders
Why is she looking so thoughtful, or lugubrious? She’s the queen from a wonderful set of twelfth-century chessmen on exhibition at the Cloisters Museum, New York. When the game began in the sixth century in India, the piece that we call the queen was the grand vizier, advisor to the king. When chess reached Europe, the vizier became the queen, but she retained his advisory function – hence she is portrayed as deep in thought.
In medieval chess, the piece we know as the rook or the castle was a foot soldier, called a “warder.” Here’s one biting his shield. No, the shield does not do double duty as a MRE (meal ready to eat.) One of the Norse sagas describes the soldiers of Odin “raging like dogs or wolves, biting their shields, and in strength equal to furious bulls or bears….This frenzy was known as Berserksganger.” Today, of course, we know it as “going berserk.” Biting the shield was a sign of wildness and ferocity.
Read John’s account of exhibition written for the New England Antiques Journal. Go to www.fiskeandfreeman.com and click beside the picture of the queen.
