Anglo-Saxon lyre facts for kids

Sutton Hoo Lyre replica, British Museum

The Anglo-Saxon lyre, also known as the Germanic lyre or the Viking lyre, is a large plucked and strummed lyre that was played in Anglo-Saxon England, and more widely, in Germanic regions of northwestern Europe. The oldest lyre found in England dates before 450 AD and the most recent dates to the 10th century. The Anglo-Saxon lyre is depicted in several illustrations and mentioned in Anglo-Saxon literature and poetry. Despite this, knowledge of the instrument was largely forgotten until the 19th century when two lyres were found in cemetery excavations in southwest Germany. The archaeological excavation at Sutton Hoo in 1939, and the correct reconstruction of the lyre in 1970, brought about the realisation that the lyre was "the typical early Germanic stringed instrument."

The Museum of London Archaeology describes the lyre as the most important stringed instrument in the ancient world. Differing from the lyres of the Mediterranean antiquity, Germanic lyres are characterised by a long, shallow and broadly rectangular shape, with a hollow soundbox curving at the base, and two hollow arms connected across the top by an integrated crossbar or ‘yoke’. From northwestern Europe—particularly from England and Germany—an ever-growing number of wooden lyres have been excavated from warrior graves of the first millennium AD.

Excavated lyres

Oberflacht (Germany)

The first Germanic lyre (Oberflacht 37) was found in 1846 in Oberflacht, not far from Konstanz on the Upper Rhine. It was found in a wooden burial chamber dated to the early 7th century. Less than half of the lyre survived, fragmented into four parts. It has a soundbox and arms hollowed out from oak, with a soundboard of maple. Initially the artefact was interpreted as the body and neck of a lute.

The second lyre was found in 1892 within the same cemetery in Oberflacht. This lyre (Oberflacht 84) was remarkably complete. Oak was used for the soundbox, whereas the soundboard was made from maple. The arms bent slightly outwards towards the top end, where the yoke was fastened to the arms with wooden pegs. It had no sound-holes. This lyre was moved to Berlin where it was preserved in a tank of alcohol. The lyre was destroyed during World War II when Russian soldiers drank the alcohol.

Köln (Germany)

The Köln (or Cologne) lyre was discovered during excavations in the Basilica of St. Severin, Cologne in 1939. It was found in a grave dated to the late 7th century/early 8th century. Only the left half of the lyre had survived. The soundbox was hollowed out from oak and covered with a maple board, which had been fastened with copper alloy nails. The yoke had six tuning pegs which decomposed when retrieved. There was evidence of a tail-piece of iron. This lyre was destroyed in bombing in June 1943.

Sutton Hoo (England)

Sutton Hoo lyre, British Museum

Excavated in 1939, the Sutton Hoo ship burial dates from the early 7th century. The lyre had hung on the western wall of the chamber in a bag made out of beaver-skin. When it fell down, it hit a Coptic bowl and broke into pieces, and fragments from the upper part landed inside the bowl. What survives are the yoke, six tuning pegs, two metal escutcheons fashioned into interlace bird heads that joined the yoke to the hollowed-outside arms, and portions of the side arms.

The lyre was constructed from maple wood. The arms were hollowed out almost up to the joint and were then covered with a maple soundboard fastened with bronze pins. There were five willow pegs and a sixth of alder wood. The maple fragments of the lyre reveal beaver hair pressed onto it indicating a fur-lined carrying bag.

When the lyre was discovered at Sutton Hoo it was not identified as a lyre. Although three lyres had previously been unearthed in Germany, Rupert Bruce-Mitford mistakenly turned to another known stringed instrument, the harp, an instrument thought to exist in the early medieval era. In 1948 an awkward and unconvincing reconstruction of the lyre in the shape of a rectangular harp was revealed, based on (indistinct) harps depicted on some 9th century Irish stone crosses and harps in two English manuscripts from the 11th and 12th centuries. This harp was put on display in the British Museum in 1949. This interpretation lasted until 1970 when Rupert Bruce-Mitford and his daughter Myrtle, reassessed the instrument correctly.

The new reconstruction of the Sutton Hoo lyre was aided by comparison with the other lyre remains. The first lyre from Oberflacht was preserved in a museum in Stuttgart; and a very fragmentary English lyre, unrecognized as such since its excavation in 1883 from a barrow in Taplow, Buckinghamshire, was finally recognised as a lyre. The remains of the two other German lyres had been destroyed in World War II but these also had been studied and published. With the reconstruction of the Sutton Hoo lyre came the realisation that the musical instrument referred to as a "hearpe" in Beowulf and similar writings, was in fact a lyre and not a harp. The accuracy of the Sutton Hoo lyre reconstruction was confirmed when further lyres were excavated from Trossingen in 2001 and Prittlewell in 2003.

Trossingen (Germany)

Trossingen lyre

The Trossingen lyre was discovered in the winter of 2001/2002 during excavations of a cemetery at Trossingen, in Baden-Württemberg, not far from Oberflacht. The lyre was found in a narrow burial chamber, with weapons and items of wooden furniture. Discovered in water-logged conditions, the lyre is exceptionally well-preserved.

The body is made in one piece from maple, and the soundboard is made from the same wood. There is a bridge made from willow and six tuning pegs, four of which are ash and two are hazel. The lyre has an exceptional set of decorations. On one side there are two groups of warriors, while the remaining space is decorated with an animal style pattern.

Prittlewell (England)

The Prittlewell royal Anglo-Saxon burial was discovered in 2003, and was one of the richest Anglo-Saxon graves ever found. The wooden lyre had almost entirely decayed except for a dark soil stain revealing its outline. Fragments of wood and metal fittings of iron, silver and gilded copper-alloy were preserved in their original positions. The entire block of soil was lifted and moved to a conservation lab where it was examined with X-rays, CT scans, and a laser scan. Micro-excavation revealed that the instrument was made of maple with tuning pegs made of ash. The lyre had been broken in two at some time during its life and put back together using iron, gilded copper-alloy and silver repair fittings.

Lyre finds to date

At least 30 lyre finds of this type have been discovered in archaeological excavations, including one in Denmark, eleven in England, eight in Germany, two in the Netherlands, three in Norway and four in Sweden. The majority of lyre finds are either bridges or parts of the upper yoke and surrounding fittings. One find, from Sigtuna, Sweden, consists of a tuning key for adjusting tuning pegs.

Five-string lyre from the Durham Cassiodorus, 8th-century England

Etymology

Today the lyre is defined as an instrument where the strings are parallel to the soundboard, similar to a violin or guitar. A harp is an instrument where the strings are perpendicular to the soundboard. This classification is entirely modern, as historically people made little distinction between lyres and harps. In Old English the lyre was called a "hearpe" and in old Norse a "harpa".

An instrument called a rote or rotta appears in medieval manuscripts from the 8th to the 16th century, where the name is sometimes applied to illustrations of box-like lyres with straight or waisted sides. Some surviving writings, however, indicate that contemporary writers may have applied the name to the harp. The rote is probably related to the equivalent Irish word cruit and also the Welsh bowed lyre known as the crwth. In these texts the rote clearly applies to a stringed instrument, but it is seldom clear which instrument is meant.

There is no modern universal name for the Anglo-Saxon lyre, but terms occasionally used include "Germanic lyre", and "Viking" or "Nordic lyre". All of these also suffer from regional bias, so are not accepted as universal names. The term "Northern lyre" is sometimes used as a neutral name.

Construction

Of the lyres analysed, all the bodies are made of maple, oak, or a combination of the two. The material for the bridges on the lyres varies greatly, including bronze, amber, antler, horn, willow and pine. The preferred wood for the pegs being ash, hazel or willow. The lyres range from 53 cm (Köln) to 81 cm in length (Oberflacht 84). Half the lyres found have six strings, a quarter have seven strings, and the remainder five or eight strings, with only two having the latter.

Anglo-Saxon lyre in ancient images

Gotland lyre, rock carving, 6th century

Apart from archaeological finds, images of the lyre have been uncovered by researchers. The Vespasian Psalter, an early 8th-century Anglo-Saxon illustrated book originating from Southumbria (Northern Mercia), contains the best image of the lyre found. It shows King David playing the lyre with his court musicians. The image is a common one repeated across the Christian world, usually with David playing a harp; however, in some English versions he has an Anglo-Saxon lyre, such as the one in the Vespasian Psalter. The image gives some insight into how the lyre was played, notably the left hand being used to block strings showing he was using a type of play known as strum and block. This same method of lyre playing appears on many Ancient Greek illustrations of lyre playing.

The Durham Cassiodorus is a book containing an image of King David playing the Anglo-Saxon lyre. The book originates from Northumbria some time in the 8th century. The image of David playing is awkward and may have been drawn by an artist who had never seen the lyre actually being played.

The oldest image of the lyre comes from Gotland in Sweden, where a rock carving dating from the 6th century has been interpreted as an image of a lyre.

Another image of the lyre being plucked can be found in the Utrecht Psalter, a 9th Century book of illustrations from the Netherlands.

Playing the lyre

The Anglo-Saxon lyre being played using the block and strum technique. Image from the Vespasian Psalter, 8th-century England.

Angle-Saxon Lyre (left) from 9th century Utrecht Psalter.

Much research has been done by scholars into how the lyre was played. This takes two forms: historians of early music who used their knowledge of historic music and instruments to work out how to play it and historians who read old texts to find mentions of it.

The Vespasian Psalter and Durham Cassiodorus provide the only good images of the lyre being held. These show it placed upon one knee with one hand held behind it to block or pluck strings. Prolonged use of it in this way would be difficult, as the left arm would tire, having no place to rest upon. In five of the lyre finds, evidence of a wrist strap has been found to take the weight of the left arm. These finds consist of either leather loops or plugs on the side of the lyre to fit a strap on. Wear marks have also been found on the arms of the Trossingen lyre, indicating when the left hand was not being used to play, it was gripping the arms of the lyre.

Tuning

How the lyre was tuned is unknown. The only contemporary account of lyres comes from the Frankish monk and music theorist Hucbald in his book De Harmonica Institutione, written around 880 AD. In it he describes how he believes the Roman philosopher, Boethius (480–524 AD), would have tuned his six-string lyre. Whether how the Romans tuned their lyres is transferable to Anglo-Saxon lyre is debated among aficionados. Hucbald's conclusion was that Boethius used the first six notes of the major scale.

Block and strum technique

The block and strum technique seems to have been a widely used and very common technique for lyre playing, images of it being used can be found on Ancient Egyptian wall art, on Ancient Greek Urns and specifically for the Anglo-Saxon Lyre on the Vespasian Psalter. To use the technique the lyre is strummed while the other hand mutes several strings, so only strings which combine to make chords are heard. The number of chords a lyre can make is limited compared to a fretted instrument and is also dependent on the number of strings it has. An alternative strum and block technique to chord playing is to tune one or more strings as drone strings and use the remaining strings to play melody, similar to a hurdy-gurdy.

Plucking

The Utrecht Psalter contains an image of the Anglo-Saxon lyre being plucked, the musician is shown plucking two strings simultaneously creating a chord. Plectrums were also used to play the lyre, the Anglo-Saxons having several words for plectrum, the main one being hearpenaegel. Several copper objects have been found the exact size and shape of modern-day plastic plectrums and may have been plectrums, however no proven plectrums survive so their make up can only be surmised. Other possibilities include quills made from bird feathers which were known to have been used to play medieval lutes, medieval Ouds used plectrums made animal horn and wood.

Anglo-Saxon lyre in literature

Among the Anglo-Saxons, "music was seen as coming from the Gods and was a gift from Woden who was, amongst many things, the God of knowledge, wisdom and poetry and as such bestowed the ‘magic’ of music on the people. ... It was also seen as a power to do good or evil, to help cure people of maladies of the mind, soul or body as well as able to inflict harm on enemies and to conjure up spirits that would be of help or to do your bidding against enemies."

There are 21 mentions of the lyre in Anglo-Saxon poetry, five of these in Beowulf. Mentions of the lyre in literature commonly associate it as accompanying storytelling, being used during celebrations or in context of war.

Bede, relating the story of Cædmon (the "first" English poet), describes how the lyre was passed around during feasts, so that as part of the merriment people could pick it up and sing songs. This is similar to other instruments such as the bagpipes which are also described as being passed around at feasts (Exeter Codex). The songs played on the lyre include Anglo-Saxon epic poetry and it is likely that performances of Beowulf, the Wanderer, Deor, the Seafarer etc., were enacted with the lyre providing the backing track.

Origin and relationship to lyres elsewhere

The relationship between northern European lyres of the first millennium and earlier lyres of the classical Mediterranean is not at all clear. A distinction between Mediterranean and northern strands of lyre culture dates from much earlier than the Middle Ages. In the 4th century BC a lyre was depicted on a broad gold Scythian headband known as the Sakhnivka Plate. This artwork, from a kurgan of Sakhnivka in modern Ukraine, shows a long, extended lyre similar to the shape of later Germanic lyres. Another find of the same type is a wooden instrument excavated in 1973 from a medieval settlement belonging to the Dzhetyasar culture in southwest Kazahkstan. Dating to the 4th century AD, recent re-examination of the artefact has emphasized its close similarity to Germanic lyres. Another similar instrument is the traditional nares-jux, or Siberian lyre, played among the Siberian Khanty and Mansi peoples.

2nd or 1st century BC bust found in Paule, in Brittany

In central Europe, lyres are depicted on artefacts of the proto-Celtic Hallstatt culture from around 700 BC, although their forms differ greatly from Germanic lyres. A later lyre gauloise is shown on a stone bust from the 2nd or 1st century BC which was discovered in Brittany, France in 1988. It depicts a figure wearing a torc playing a seven-string lyre, likely constructed from wood, but with a wider, rounder body like the turtle-shell lyres of ancient Mediterranean cultures. An excavation in 2010 in High Pasture Cave on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, revealed a piece of wood dating from the 4th century BC, which is interpreted by some non-experts to be a bridge of a lyre, though this claim is hotly disputed. Although burnt and broken, the number of notches show if it is indeed the bridge of an instrument it was only a two or three stringed instrument, so most likely candidate being a bowed lyre similar to a Shetland Gue/>

The six-string Germanic lyre tradition appears in the archaeological record by the 2nd century AD, in a settlement at Habenhausen near Bremen, Germany. A wooden object excavated in the 1980s from a marsh settlement in Habenhausen, turned out to be the yoke of a lyre. The six holes show that the original musical instrument, barely 20 cm wide, had six strings.

See also

• Kithara, a 7 string Greek lyre with a wooden soundbox
• Krar, a 5 or 6 string lyre from Ethiopia and Eritrea