Music Content and Contention                By Alex Clayphan.

            An area that is rarely covered in most texts about the Viking period, is that of Music, there are any number of texts which make a faint reference to music as having been a hobby, and even a profession, but few texts dare say more. The reason for the reluctance on the part of the historian to say much on the subject, is simply that there was no known musical notation in use across western europe at this time, thus no direct evidence for style, technique, note forms, tempo etc. At this point I could just finish off with ‘well, that about wraps it up…’, but being me I won’t.

            Firstly, let’s look at the evidence for instruments during this time. There have been may well-documented finds of one instrument in particular, the Lyre, the best documented being the simple one from the Sutton Hoo find, which though Anglo-Saxon in origin is a good example. The Lyre ranges in design, from four to ten strings, from 50 to 80 cms in length, with and without hollow resonance spaces, but essentially the same instrument with variations. Evidence for Lyres during our period has been extensive in that the Bridges for this instrument are regular finds from Northern France to the steps of the Ukraine, there is also supporting commentaries from the Sagas, and other legends such as that of Beowulf, although some versions often transpose Harp for Lyre, this is normally only found in translations and rewritten examples dating from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when the Harp had begun to supersede the Lyre. Flutes of one form or another are also found across the whole of the Viking Theatre, ranging from five to nine notes, these appear to have been very popular. Most examples of the flute have been made from long bones, commonly goose or swan leg bones, though some examples in wood have been documented. Keeping to wind instruments, a rather good example of a five note Pan-Pipe was found at York, sufficiently complete to give an idea of the kind of notes common to this instrument, other examples have been documented, though none so well preserved. The Horn is yet another example of a blown instrument, and there appear to have been two main types, the Ox horn, blown from the tip, or a hole part way along the body, and the Lur, a long beaten metal horn usually with a well decorated end, blown again from the tip, both instruments were probably very limited in output, except in the hands of an expert, but would have provided a good Bass accompaniment, or at least brought embarrassed grins to anyone who’d eaten beans the night before. Bells were certainly found in many places across the Viking world, and although they appear to have of the Cattle type, there is no reason to believe that they wouldn’t also be used for music, they certainly still are in parts of Switzerland and Germany today   (though some wish that they wouldn’t, I’ve heard it). Finds in the Russian Federation around Kiev, have revealed a wealth of Rattles, simple Lyres, small nut-whistles, and bells, which may have been the local Band house, or the ditch where they buried the musicians once and for all ( see Asterix), but these finds include evidence for an area that is still hotly disputed in some circles, Drums.

            Drums have been argued for, and against, for some time, but finds indicating the presence of narrow hoops of wood with the appropriate band marks, lend support to the belief that during the Viking period an instrument not unlike the Irish Bodran was in use, this type of drum needs a bit more skill than the tap it and see approach, but gives a good rendition all on it’s own in the hands of a skilled player. The big problem with the Drum is that the church banned the drum for the reason that it was an instrument of heathen Gods, and thus unsuitable for mankind, at which point somewhere in the ninth or tenth century, it pops out of sight, not to reappear in the North for three hundred years. Naturally the legends often got redesigned to keep the heroes popular, and that may well explain the absence of documentary support for the poor old drum, but given the physical evidence, I don’t feel that it can be discounted any more.

            The second thing to look at when considering period music, is, playing. Is there any evidence for playing methods and music for our period, most people say no, but, there have been at least two researchers that differ with this opinion.

            Archaeologica Musica of Cambridge have produced a series of musical pieces which have been constructed by the laborious technique of taking a piece of music named in a reference, and then collecting all examples of this piece, comparing them all, and taking out the differences to yield a ‘base’ piece. This is available on tape, and a couple of people within the group have copies.

            Tidsskriftet Skalk of Hojbjerg in Denmark have also reconstructed music pieces, by much the same methodology, I have yet to get a copy, but it is available on CD, so fingers crossed.

            Both music productions have been supported by the research departments of their local University Archaeology departments, so there is some credence given to the veracity of their work.

            Thus, we have evidence for music, examples of reasonably reliable pieces, and absolutely no time in which to learn how to play them, with Pan-Pipes as the next project, Flute anybody?

                                    Alex Clayphan