Single Comment

Three points: (1) If I remember rightly, Norse had a word similar to Rook
which meant 'brave warrior', and this may have influenced the design of
the Rooks.
(2) The anonymous contributor is right to draw attention to the misuse of
'English'. Using 'England' for all of Britain is like using
'California' for the whole U.S. West Coast. In fact as England is
Britain's Southeast lobe and Scotland its Northwest one, and the Hebrides
are in Scotland's Northwest corner, they are far indeed from England -
further than all of Belgium and much of northern France.
(3) These chessmen are not the only link between Chess, walruses, and the
name Lewis. The second of Lewis Carroll's Alice books features the Walrus
and the Carpenter, and in the array at the start the Walrus is on square
c8, highly appropriate for a tusker. The Carpenter is next door on b8,
reflecting that in lathe-turned sets Knights require the most post-turning
craftsmanship.