The player holding the king had only a small number of pawns to protect the king from the larger number of pawns controlled by the opponent. It is possible that the Norwegians acquired other foreign games such as Shatranj, an early form of chess originating from Constantinople, through trade contacts. However, trade before the Viking expansion appears to have been extremely limited, probably to the simplest items such as combs, clothing, food, weapons, and raw materials such as timber and bogs.