Norse Music (Patreon)

Published:

2023-02-10 01:33:50

Imported:

2023-02

Content

Here is the first post in our new series - a couple of times a month we will be creating a list of articles and theses related to a particular topic that you can read online. Here we are looking at what we know about music during the Viking Age. I was able to few articles, much of which relate to archaeological finds. There are also some focusing on the oldest piece of written music from Scandinavia.

What did they sound like? Reconstructing the music of the Viking Age

By Chihiro Tsukamoto

Master’s Thesis, University of Iceland, 2017

There has been much scholarship over the years regarding Scandinavian culture during the Viking Age (c. 793–1066 CE). However, often missing from these discussions is the study of music. This paper attempts to fill that gap by offering a reconstruction of Viking Age Scandinavian music. Archaeological evidence, literary records, and medieval music theories were used as the basis of this study. Archaeology indicates that Scandinavians played wind, string, and percussion instruments, while later Old Norse literary accounts detail the many circumstances wherein music was performed, and suggest the likely existence of different musical genres.

Magical Music in Old Norse Literature

By Britt-Mari Nasstrom

Dance, Music, Art, and Religion, Vol. 16 (1996)

No society ever existed without performing music, and most cultures display many variants of music. Music also played and still plays an important part in different religious rites. From the days of yore, music has been intimately connected with the cult, whether it is performed as epic or lyric expressions. The Old Norse society was no exception to this statement and early finds from as far back as the Bronze Age reveal that different instrument were used in daily life. The most conspicuous specimens from this time are the bronze lures, which probably are depicted on the rock-carvings. All these examples emphasise the character of music in Old Norse literature as connected with the magic aspect of religion, and particularly with divination. This does not mean that all music in the Viking Age was performed with a magic purpose, but what has survived in the sources is the conspicuous role of music as something that affected the human mind to the extent that it was experienced as a magic feeling, even able to reveal the future.

Sounds and Music of the Vikings: Understanding the Younger Iron Age Scandinavians Through Their Instruments

By Mikkel A. W. Totland

Master’s Thesis, University of Oslo, 2022

This master thesis explores sounds and music in Younger Iron Age Scandinavia. I will discuss the use of music archaeology as a discipline to help understand the meaning behind and of Viking Age music and sounds. The aim of this thesis is to research the music traditions of Younger Iron Age Scandinavia by analysing their sound-producing devices and therefore elaborate on the connection between academic and artistic interpretations of historical instruments and music.

Birch (Betula, Betulacae) bark horns and similar instruments in Norway

By Torbjørn Alm

Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas Vol. 9, No. 2 (2015)

Wooden horns wrapped in coiled birch bark (Norwegian: lur) have a long history in Norway, dating back at least to the 7th century AD. By the Vikings, they were used for various signalling purposes, e.g. during battles. More recent uses are generally peaceful—to celebrate the opening of fairs, announce bishop visitations etc. In the 19th century, playing such instruments was as a popular past-time when herding cattle, and, if needed, to scare off predators (bears, wolves, etc.) or signal for help. Common throughout the southern part of Norway, such instruments gained symbolic importance during the 19th century national revival.

Studies of Ancient Nordic Music, 1915–1940

By Gjermund Kolltveit

The Historiography of Music in Global Perspective (2010)

The pioneers who contributed towards the formative period of Scandinavian musicology (ca. 1915–1940) were highly interested in ancient music. This essay describes these individuals’ approaches and methods, seeking to place their work in the context of the cultural, political, and academic ideas of the period. Some of the scholars were notably influenced by nationalism, whereas others were more concerned with a common Nordic musical heritage. Moreover, Nordic identities were often parallel to national identities. The interest in ancient music in this period was sometimesrelated to evolutionary theories. More often, however, the scholars tended to view the history of music as a decline, from an ancient golden age to the present, where only remnants from ancient times survive. The pioneers discussed in this essay include Angul Hammerich, Hortense Panum, Otto Andersson, Tobias Norlind, Christian Leden and Geirr Tveitt.

Music Archaeology in Scandinavia, 1800–1990

By Cajsa S. Lund

The Historiography of Music in Global Perspective (2010)

In 1797 the first discovery of Scandinavian Bronze Age horns, the so called lurs, was made in Denmark. Naturally, a great deal of attention has been devoted to these impressive instruments, which are approximately three thousand years old. Up to the 1960s, these lurs were usually discussed in Scandinavian archaeological specialist literature as if they were the only preserved remnants of prehistoric music in Northern Europe. Several sporadic, pioneering studies of other sound-making instruments were also completed early on. However, it was not until the 1970s that a more systematic approach to research on music and other “cultural sounds” in Scandinavia’s prehistory began, under the name “music archaeology.” What had started with a handful of international individuals, including the author, soon grew into a group of researchers, which have laid the foundation for the field of music archaeology today. The history of the term “music archaeology” is summarised in an appendix.

The Early Lyre in Scandinavia: A Survey

By Gjermund Kolltveit

Tiltai/Bridges, Vol. 3 (2000)

The paper is a survey of the early lyre in Scandinavia on the basis of available sources, which are mainly archaeological finds and depictions.

Also see more from Gjermund Koltveit at https://www.musark.no/en/publications/

Prehistoric Soundscapes in Scandinavia Sounds of History

By Cajsa S. Lund

Sounds of History (2006)

This paper will focus on Scandinavia’s prehistory, a period of about 12,000 years or some 360 generations! The so-called Viking Age (ca. 800-1050 AD) is the last period of prehistoric Scandinavia. The boundary between prehistoric times and the medieval period is naturally lexible. Standard archaeological practice places it at 1050 AD for South Scandinavia up to and including the counties of middle Sweden. In the more northern parts of Scandinavia, the transition is taken to have occurred much later.

See more from Cajsa S. Lund at https://linnaeus.academia.edu/CajsaSLund

A Reassessment of the Performance of Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon Poetry, Considering the Role of Music and Possible Performance Contexts

By Ellen Pilsworth

M.Phil Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2014

It gathers together evidence for the use of harps and lyres in Britain and Scandinavia during the early Middle Ages, drawing on literary and archeological sources.

Scandinavian Folk Music: A Survey

By Erik Dal and Lis Pihl

Journal of the International Folk Music Council, Vol. 8 (1956)

Huh! Medievalism(s), TV and Musical Authenticity in Vikings (Hirst, 2013-)

By Arturo Tello Ruiz-Pérez

My Kind of Sound: Popular Music and Audiovisual Culture, 2021

Medieval music for Saint Magnus: From Research to Performance

By Ben Whitworth

Spark, Issue 4 (2021)

Two Scottish Thirteenth-century songs, with the original melodies, recently discovered in Sweden

By John Beveridge

Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Vol. 73 (1939)

Two previously unrecorded Scottish songs were contained within a parchment manuscript of 13th century date. One was a hymn sung at the wedding of Princess Margaret of Scotland to King Eric of Norway at Bergen in 1281. The other was a hymn in praise of St Magnus, Earl of Orkney, who died in 1115 and was enshrined in 1135. He was the patron saint of Orkney, and in his honour the Cathedral of Kirkwall was built and dedicated.

Drømde mik en drøm i nat um silki ok ærlik pæl

There are a couple of articles related to the oldest written piece of music in the Norse world:

Drømte Mig En Drøm: A Danish Ballad Fragment

By Sheila Louise Wright

Drømde Mik en Drøm i Nat …

By Anna Katherine Höstman

PhD Dissertation, University of Toronto, 2013

Abstract: Composed entirely of runes, the 14th century manuscript Codex Runicus is comprised of 101 sheets and contains historical documents such as “Kings until Erik Menved” and “Boundaries between Denmark and Sweden.” The end of the codex contains the oldest surviving Nordic music fragment with lyrical text “Drømde mik en drøm i nat um silki ok ærlik pæl” which translates as [I] dreamt me a dream last night of silk and lovely cloth. This melody, alongside three Norwegian folk slåttar written for fiddle, Fjellbekken (The Mountain Stream), Fjøllrosa (The Mountain Rose), and Syrgjefuen (The Bird of Sorrow), is used to generate the pitch material for this composition for string orchestra, english horn and french horn.