# Talharpa > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Talharpa > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Talharpa.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talharpa > Source revision: 1357211805 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Stringed instrument of northern Europe}} thumb|Talharpa, by Charlie Bynum, Silver Spoon Music, Alkmaar NL, 2014 thumb|An Estonian man playing the hiiu kannel (or, talharpa), ca. 1920. '''''Talharpa''''', '''''tagelharpa''''' ("tail-hair harp"), or '''''stråkharpa''''' ("bowed harp") in [Swedish](/source/Swedish_language), and '''''hiiu kannel''''' or '''''hiiurootsi kannel''''' in [Estonian](/source/Estonian_language), is a two- to four-stringed [bowed](/source/bowed) [lyre](/source/lyre) from northern Europe. It is questionable whether it was formerly common and widespread in Scandinavia. Historically, it has been played in the Estonian-Swedish areas and in Western [Estonia](/source/Estonia), particularly among [Estonian Swedes](/source/Estonian_Swedes) who came to Estonia around the 10th century from the Swedish part of Finland; they likely brought the instrument with them (later Swedish settlers in Estonia did not know nor use the talharpa.){{Cite book |last=Cronshaw |first=Andrew |title=The Rough Guide to World Music |publisher=Rough Guides Limited |year=1999 |isbn=1-85828-635-2 |edition=2nd |volume=1 |location=London |pages=18 |chapter=Baltic States: singing revolutions}} It is similar to the Finnish [jouhikko](/source/jouhikko) and the Welsh [crwth](/source/crwth). Jouhikko, a close relative of talharpa, is still known in [Finland](/source/Finland).{{cite book| last=Montagu |first=Jeremy |title=Origins and Development of Musical Instruments |publisher=Scarecrow |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l1ztKVmMbSsC&pg=PA174 |page=174 |date=2007|isbn=9780810877702 }} == Etymology == The prefix in ''talharpa'' is an abbreviated and dialectical form of the word ''tagel'' ("horsehair") from which the strings were made (compare cognate "tail").Andersson, Otto (1930). The Bowed Harp. Translated and edited by Kathleen Schlesinger. London: New Temple Press p. 111 Historical spellings includes [Old Swedish](/source/Old_Swedish) ''taghl'' (which should make /taɣl/) and ''tavel/tauel'' (compare [Old Danish](/source/Old_Danish): ''tauel'', ''taul''), with /aue/ → /au/ becoming a dialectal [diphthong](/source/diphthong) which then gets treated as /aa/ in other dialects (dialect X: /taul/ → dialect Y: /taal/). The Estonian name ''hiiu kannel'', originally ''hiiurootsi kannel'' ({{lit|Hiiu-Swedish kannel}}), refers to the halfway point to ''[Hiiumaa](/source/Hiiumaa)'', the island ''[Vormsi](/source/Vormsi)'', which historically was inhabited by [Estonian Swedish](/source/Estonian_Swedish) people. A [kannel](/source/Kannel_(instrument)) is otherwise a type of Estonian plucked instrument. == Background == The earliest known Norse literary mentions of a [harp](/source/harp) or [lyre](/source/lyre) date to the [Eddic poem](/source/Eddic_poem) ''[Völuspá](/source/V%C3%B6lusp%C3%A1)'', though not as a bowed instrument. There have been attempts to interpret as talharpa the [iconography](/source/iconography), that show [Gunnar](/source/Gunther) charming the snakes in the [snake pit](/source/Gunther) with a {{lang|sv|harpa}}-like instrument (also don't include a bow and instrument is in a very different shape) and a stone carving at the [Trondheim Cathedral](/source/Trondheim_Cathedral) of Norway, that shows a musician playing a bowed [hurdy gurdy](/source/hurdy_gurdy)- or [nyckelharpa](/source/nyckelharpa)-like instrument, dating to around the 14th century.Nieminen, Rauno (2020) The Bowed Lyre. p.16 In Nordic countries, the bowed lyre (as opposed to the plucked harp) has continued in Finland, where it is called {{lang|fi|jouhikko}} or a {{lang|fi|jouhikantele}} and Estonia where it is called {{lang|et|hiiu kannel}}.{{cite book |last1=Rice |first1=Timothy |title=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: Europe |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1351544269 |page=730 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gh03DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT730 |accessdate=13 August 2019}} == Construction techniques == Talharpas were traditionally built by hollowing out a single block of wood and gluing a soundboard on top, as can be seen from many instruments stored in the museums in Estonia and Finland. In modern times, many talharpa makers continue to build their musical instruments from solid wood, such as Rait Pihlap, Mihkel Soon or Rauno Nieminen. Others began to make tagelharpas following the classical school of [lutherie](/source/lutherie), with each part assembled and characterized by reinforcements, bands, counter-bands, figured bottoms and blocks (such as Raivo Sildoja). == Modern use == The talharpa is sometimes used in modern folk music, most notably by the Estonian [nu-folk](/source/nu-folk) duo [Puuluup](/source/Puuluup)[https://www.puuluup.ee/en/], Puuluup official website who use talharpas and modern [live looping](/source/live_looping). Other notable musicians and bands, that use a bowed-lyre family instruments: Sofia Joons, Strand...Rand, Pekko Käppi, Styrbjörn Bergelt, Krista Sildoja, [Metsatöll](/source/Metsat%C3%B6ll), [Wardruna](/source/Wardruna), Per Runberg, Janne Mängli, A Tergo Lupi. thumb|Puuluup on stage == See also == * [Crwth](/source/Crwth) * [Jouhikko](/source/Jouhikko) * [Gue](/source/Gue) * [Byzantine lyra](/source/Byzantine_lyra) (bowed lyre) * [Hiiu kannel](/source/%3Aet%3AHiiu_kannel) {{in lang|et}} * [Bowed string instrument](/source/Bowed_string_instrument) == References == {{Reflist}} == External links == * {{Commons category-inline}} * {{cite web|title=Per Runberg demonstrates playing the talharpa| website=[YouTube](/source/YouTube) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN8Fvwhx0no}}{{cbignore}} {{Authority control}} Category:Estonian musical instruments Category:Bowed lyres --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Talharpa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talharpa) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talharpa?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.