Middle Earth Ranger Forum

It's almost time for a new harp I think.

My Queen Mary has a crack in the arch that we'll repair someday, but for the time being it's not in the cards. Moreover, my fella doesn't like the ringing sound of wire strung harps but likes my old nylon-strung beast from school. And I would like something small enough I can easily carry it into the woods or just around the living room.

It would be extra nice if I could squeeze it into a Dunedain aesthetic.

And then I realized with some re-reading - as many times as harps pop up in the text, there's very little description of them at all. Not even whether they're metal wire or organic strings, for the most part. That dwarven harps are "wrung" rather implies metal I think, and the "harp, viol, and flute" or Aragorn's coronation implies a high-medieval ensemble that IIRC typically (but not exclusively) used gut-string harps.. but there's no solid reference I can find.

What's your mental image of a Dunedain or Elvish harp?
Less the decorative aesthetic, and more the overall form, I mean. More celtic? More early medieval? high-medieval?



Once upon a time I had this little wire-string darling, but traded it in for my Queen Mary - It was a fairly handly size, but I'm leaning this time towards a more gothic style. Something closer to the small one this luthier at "Another Era" is holding - .. which is similar to instruments that pop up in late medieval artwork a fair bit - (source)

I'm telling myself the nice thing is that the thinner soundbox will pack a lot easier, and the more acute angle will I think give me a slightly deeper range for the same number of strings. (This matters to me b/c with Celtic style harps, the top octave tends to be quite "tinkly" to my ears, and I hardly ever use it)
Either one could be gussied up with more Middle-Earthy aesthetic elements, of course.

Any thoughts?

Just an idea:
Harps like the ones you pictured were introduced into the British Isles in the early middle ages from the Levant. The older plucked instrument was a lyre, and is nearly universal. (By that I mean that similar instruments are known as far away as Africa.)

Thanks Kortoso!

I'd thought about that - even the classic Celtic harp is historically surprisingly late (and short-lived, historically speaking!) - but I think this is another place where Middle Earth is more mythical than historical.
(the trick being to key off a suitable foundation for the myth)

That said, perhaps the Rohirrim are fond of the lyre?

(one of the few things I disliked with the WETA Rivendell set was using a ginourmous kithara as an elven harp. Oh well, can't have everything. )

In terms of portability and aesthetic, I like the Gothic harp. Thinking back, I always pictured either that or some sort of lyre.

I'm intrigued that all the harps I find mentioned in the books that bear any description at all are referred to as metallic, for some reason. Golden, or silver, in the case of Elrond's. Some harps are done in gold leaf, I suppose, but that seems like it'd make it even more delicate for travel. It could just be a poetic description of the wood's color?

As for string material, I believe metal instrument strings are relatively new, since around the 1800s. Metal wrapped gut strings are a bit older. That said, I feel like metal strings wouldn't be beyond the skill of the dwarves, and I get the impression they were fairly prolific traders, so I think you could claim authenticity without too much of a stretch.

I'd go with gut strings, for sure. Metal strings just don't ring in my head for Middle-Earth. The tonal color of gut strings sounds nicely in my head when reading lyrics from the dwarves' songs. That 'tinny' sound you're referring to (that's what we call extra-bright tones in the sound production world) is unavoidable in some instruments, but could be adjusted with a little bit of well-placed dampening inside the sound chamber. I, however, work more with sound adjustment in rooms, rather than inside instruments (unless we're talking percussion), but a professional Harper/Harpist friend of mine may have some clues I could interpret into sound design and pass on to you. I'll look into it.

Great thread!

As you say, harps are mentioned a number of times in the canon of texts, but descriptions are rather lacking.

Here are some of my thoughts on the subject:


Elves

I think that the Elves could have had any style tof harp hat we have available today--right up to the column type harp from Lyon-Healy. I think that they would have had levers but I just don't see them with pedals (maybe the Noldor).

Like you, I see the Elves with more of a Gothic type harp. Long, graceful, clean lines--much like the Noldor themselves.

As far as construction, I can see them either made entirely of wood or metal with some kind of wooden soundbox. Having said that, I thinkk that they would have favored harps made of gracefully carved wood (Mallorn?). As far as strings, I can see them using both organic and metal materials--much like larger harps today use different string materials for different notes. Some materials unique to them might include elf-hair (like on the bowstrings of the Galadhrim) and spider silk (from Mirkwood).

I can also see them having smaller, mostly-metal lyres. Fingon, for example, ran around Thangorodrim with his harp--I don't think that a wooden harp would have held up to that!

Like you, I also did not care for the depiction of the harps in An Unexpected Journey.


Dwarves

I see them with metal harps that have some type of metal strings--perhaps wrapped. I see them more linear. I also think that they would have had levers. I agree that the strings would have had to be damped somehow. I envision (en-hear?) their music being comprised of deeper tones.


Men

I see them with harps made of wood with organic strings. Levers would be rare. In my mind, they would sound "warmer" than the instruments of the other races. I can see them with Celtic, Early Medieval or Late Medieval forms depending on the race in question.


Dunedain

For the commoners, I can envison a Celtic or Late Medieval form with organic strings. Levers would be rare.

For a minstrel or a noble's hall, I see more of a Gothic form and hybrid strings with levers. I imagine that they would have had the means to be able to trade with the Dwarves for these things. I also believe that they would have been more exposed to the Eldar's influences on music than the common folk--and would have sought to imitate them more.

I know diddly-squat about finger-plucked string instruments or their styles.
But I will say that Ancient Music dot co dot uk is a cool resource for visualizing (aurally) what M-e music may have sounded like...though their offerings skew towards the Northern European, so probably more appropriate for Mannish societies with less Elvish contacts. I also imagine lyre-type instruments would be used by Rohirrim, and possibly the related Beornings or Woodmen, as accompan- ac-comp- accom--- background music since they seem to be an oral culture "So men still sing in the evenings'(LR BkIIICh6)

The reference to metallic harps is interesting... like you Sierra I assume that's poetic license, but I suppose I could imagine a truly metallic instrument body being made. I imagine it would be even more "bell sounding" that the late medieval bronze/silver/gold strung clarsach harps.

I do think the sound works for Dwarves. Not the melody perhaps, but that clanging timbre..


Personally, I definitely like the gut-strung early medieval harps for Bree, though even that might be a bit high class. Breelanders seem more a rebec and pipe-and-tabor kind of people.



Dunlenders being vaguely Celtic/Brythonic, I'm torn between a later period Gaelic wire-strung clarsach and the earlier Welsh horsehair-strung instruments - and tend towards the latter:


Levers and pedals both still "feel" modern enough to me I'd be inclined to leave them off across the board. Partially b/c I expect the music of ME is more modal than chromatic (Numenorian excepted, perhaps?) but mostly b/c my mind is just singed with the darn things coming loose on my college harp all the time and I can't stand them.

That said, I do believe I've come across Gothic harps made in such a way that you can press the string against a raised ridge on the curve for the occasional accidental. That sounds a nice Elvish touch.

but yeah.. talking myself into something stylistically Elvish but closer to this -

Levers and pedals both still "feel" modern enough to me I'd be inclined to leave them off across the board. Partially b/c I expect the music of ME is more modal than chromatic (Numenorian excepted, perhaps?) but mostly b/c my mind is just singed with the darn things coming loose on my college harp all the time and I can't stand them.

Your college experience aside, I think that levers are a simple enough technology that men, and certainly Elves (who had been around for three Ages by that point) would have come up with them. But, of course, it is your interpretation that counts.

I suppose that they could have also went down the Double Strung route. I can see that approach appealing to elves with their superior dexterity.

Should I ask how your Queen Mary harp cracked--or should the topic be avoided entirely?

Udwin wrote:I know diddly-squat about finger-plucked string instruments or their styles.
But I will say that Ancient Music dot co dot uk is a cool resource for visualizing (aurally) what M-e music may have sounded like...though their offerings skew towards the Northern European, so probably more appropriate for Mannish societies with less Elvish contacts. I also imagine lyre-type instruments would be used by Rohirrim, and possibly the related Beornings or Woodmen, as accompan- ac-comp- accom--- background music since they seem to be an oral culture "So men still sing in the evenings'(LR BkIIICh6)

And there one sees Anglo-Saxon and Finnish lyres.
Having some background in these instruments, I admit that I am prejudiced.
While we are sharing videos, here is the Professor's beloved Beowulf, accompanied by a historical lyre:

Hunh... just ran across this from the Hobbit -

On silver necklaces they strung
The light of stars, on crowns they hung
The dragon-fire, from twisted wire
The melody of harps they wrung.

... which seems pretty clear evidence Dwarvish harps are metal strung - though our earthly metal strung harps use single-thickness drawn wire rather than twisted wire. Interesting!
(Wire wrapped gut is a thing, especially for bowed instruments in the pre-synthetic string era - but I don't recall ever seeing a twisted wire music string. Kinda cool.

I think that levers are a simple enough technology that men, and certainly Elves (who had been around for three Ages by that point) would have come up with them.

I absolutely think they could have come up with them - I just don't know as they would choose to (again, perhaps late period Numeoreans excepted).

To each their own, of course. I lean towards a fairly romantic/lower tech interpretation of ME generally.

Should I ask how your Queen Mary harp cracked--or should the topic be avoided entirely?

No trauma, good humidity, so no idea - just went to tune and play one morning and the arch had a crack in it. I expect there was a hidden weakness in the wood that just finally gave into the tension.
There's not a local guy I trust to fix it, and shipping it to the maker in Scotland would be prohibitively expensive, so for now she's on temporary retirement.

Rereading through "The Lord of the Rings," last night I got to the part in which Bilbo recites his "Earendil" poem, the night before Elrond's council on the Ring.

This is a portion of the poem, describing his time among the Elves:

"He tarried there from errantry,
and melodies they taught to him,
and sages old him marvels told,
and harps of gold they brought to him."

Not sure if the harp would be made of metal, or gold-leaf over wood.

Good catch! Hmmm. I wonder...gold is a fairly soft metal - would it even be able to hold up to the structural stresses of a fully-strung instrument?

No.

Guitars have fairly high-stretch strings, strung at fairly low tension. You can pull a guitar string quite a bit without breaking it.

Harp strings are a completely different animal. Harps have a good deal more structure built into them than a lot of stringed instruments because of the tension required. I'm not sure what the figures are, but I've known small hammered dulcimers that had in excess of 2 metric tons of tension between nuts. Solid gold would buckle before the lowest string was in tune on a harp, I do believe...not to mention the ridiculous weight would buckle my back. If the harp were all-metal, I imagine it'd be a copper alloy, heading in the direction of instrument-grade brass, with a gold filigree/leafing, etc. For middle-earth, I'm definitely still thinking wood structures. Resonates better anyhow.

What of the possibility of mallorn wood being the material the "harps of gold" are made of. The wood is not golden but the trees were known as "golden" due to the color of leaves in the fall.