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Encyclopedia ID 408

Nyckelharpa

Also known as key fiddle

Nyckelharpa: photograph by Bernd Schwabe in Hannover
Photo: Bernd Schwabe in Hannover, CC BY-SA 4.0, source on Wikimedia Commons

Play melodies by pressing wooden keys under the strings while bowing a drone; follow falling notes of folk tunes.

Heritage note

Part of the living heritage of Sweden.

Origins

Usually placed in the era of Classical Worlds (about 1000 BCE to 500 CE), although its exact origins are uncertain, within the cultural world of Northern and Eastern Europe.

Sources

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