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The Saxon Lyre: History, Construction, andPlaying Techniques

by Dofinn-Hallr Morrisson and Th ra Sharptooth

Copyright (c) 1992, 1995 Greg Priest-Dorman and Carolyn Priest-Dorman.

This document is provided as is without any express or implied warranties. Whileevery effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained, theauthors assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting fromthe use of the information contained herein.

Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this document fornon-commercial purposes provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are

preserved on all copies.

This is an expansion and correction of a class pamphlet Dof has used at various EastKingdom University sessions.

The authoritative version of this document exists athttp://www.cs.vassar.edu/~priestdo/lyre.html.

$Id: lyre.html,v 1.3 1995/12/27 12:26:45 priestdo Exp $

The lyre, a particular type of stringed instrument, has proved enduringly popular inmany parts of the world. In northern Europe the Germanic tribes played a type of lyrecalled in Old English the hearpa. Mentioned in Beowulf, the lyre may have been theinstrument to accompany the performance of Anglo-Saxon poems and stories such asBeowulf. The remains of several such "Germanic lyres" and their bridges have beenfound in Saxon and Frankish graves in Germany and England; they range in date fromthe fifth through the tenth century (Crane, 10). The most famous is no doubt the onefrom the Sutton Hoo excavation, currently dated to the early seventh century. Sufficientinformation exists about the Saxon lyre to permit reasonable reconstruction and play ofthe instrument, and that is the subject of this article.

Playing the LyreFrom the earliest times, depictions of lyres fall into two categories: those with seven orfewer strings and those with eight or more strings. Consistent across 3,000 years ofdepictions of people playing lyres are two playing styles. Those lyres having seven orfewer strings are depicted being played in a fashion I will describe later that I call"block and strum." Those with eight or more strings are depicted with each handseparately plucking the strings, much as harps are played to this day.

Several early medieval illuminations depict people playing lyres with seven or fewerstrings. Eliminating those depictions that post-date the time when the lyre seems to

have been common (that is, depictions from after the eleventh century) on theassumption that the artist had never seen someone actually playing the instrument, andfocusing on those illustrations actually contemporary in age with the finds, one can see

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that there is great consistency in the way the instrument is held and the way the handsare placed on the instrument. The lyre is usually held upright resting on one or theother leg; the left hand is behind the instrument with the fingers spread, apparentlyagainst the strings. The right hand may hold some kind of plectrum. In those caseswhere there is no plectrum, the right hand appears to be strumming the strings

backhanded, which would result in striking with the fingernails. Typical of these is theillumination of King David from the Vespasian Psalter (circa early 8th century); see

Figure 1 for a redrawing of this illumination.While the individual musician could have done any number of things possible on theinstrument, the most likely way to play seems to me to be "block and strum." By this Imean strumming across the strings, either with the back of the hand or with a pick heldin the front (usually right) hand, while at the same time blocking selected strings from

behind with the back (usually left) hand so the strings you are touching with the backhand do not sound. This is very comfortable to do and produces pleasing results. Itmatches the arm, hand, and wrist positions in the illuminations and allows forcomfortable support of the instrument.

Additionally, of the finds that have openings in the back of discernible size, the

openings are longer than one half the string length. This would allow the left hand toproduce half-length harmonics for occasional highlights. To do these you would pluckthe individual string, which is the way I think plucking would be used occasionally.

We do have a statement contemporary with the instrument's use mentioning how itwas tuned, and an example of at least one piece of music for it. Hucbald's De HarmonicaInstitutione (ca. 880) contains discussion and an illustration of lyre tablature for thecommon 6-string lyre along with tuning information. Hucbald is explaining the work ofBoethius, and gives his audience an example of how Boethius' musical system woulddescribe their lyres. Thus Hucbald's examples are descriptive rather than prescriptive ofthe tuning found in his day. He notes that intervals between the strings of the lyre aretone-tone-semitone-tone-tone (Hucbald, 22-23). In modern notation, that tuning mapsto C-D-E-F-G-a, or D-E-F#-G-a-b, these being the first six notes of a major scale or,looked at another way, the last three and first three notes of a major scale, or the lastnote followed by the first five notes of a Dorian scale.

Selecting Strings for Your Lyre

The following recommendations for strings are based on standard guitar strings, whichare readily available in music shops. Steel strings are louder than nylon; however, steelputs the instrument under greater pressure than nylon. Use steel strings if you choose

to build Option 1, and nylon if you choose to build Option 2. Option 1, having aplywood belly and back, benefits from the louder steel strings. Option 2, having asingle-grained belly and the routed-out back, has a louder box and can make use of thenylon strings that sound closer to the sound of gut strings. If you find a cheap sourcefor "gut," use those.

The following specifications are based on a measurement of 20" from tuning pin tobridge and approximately 30" overall instrument length. If the distance between yourtuning pins and bridge is longer than 20", use slightly lower tunings; if the distance isshorter than 20", use slightly higher tunings.

To buy steel strings, ask for one each of strings 024, 020, 017, 015, 013, 011. These

numbers refer to gauge. On your lyre, tune the lowest string to C or D.To buy nylon strings, ask for two each of strings G, b, and e. On your lyre, tune thelowest string (a G string) up to b, resulting in a tuning of b-flat-c-d-e-flat-f-g.

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Building Your Saxon Lyre

It is not the goal of this section to describe how to build a reproduction of an actualhistorical lyre. The best two authors to go to for information if you wish to build areproduction of a historical lyre are Crane and Bruce-Mitford. This section tells how to

make a hybrid lyre using modern tools and construction methods for the sake of gettingone into your hands so you can learn how to play it. I would love to see peopleconstructing their lyres in the way we believe medieval lyremakers to have constructedtheirs, but that is another article.

I suggest you build your first lyre one of two ways:

Using power tools and a simple design not exactly like the period examples; or1.

Using power tools and a design representing a combination of the finds.2.

Figure 2 shows the nomenclature and component parts of this type of lyre. Figures 3and 4 and their associated tables summarize the known physical evidence for extant

lyres of this type. Look over the evidence and the other illustrations, read over the twomethods, and then pick Option 2 if you have some skill with a router, Option 1 if youdon't. A high estimate of the cost of materials cost is under $50 (1995 wood prices,USA).

Option 1

This lyre is made of a strong hardwood internal framework (the body) glued betweentwo layers of thinner wood (the back and belly). It has a large hole through it acrosswhich the strings are strung (the handhole). See Figure 5.

Tools Required:

Jigsaw or sabre saw and wood blade (If you are using a sabre saw instead of ajigsaw you will also need a small coping saw for cutting out the bridge andtailpiece.)

q

Drill; bit for starter holes for saw, bit for tuning pins (usually 3/16" works forzither pins), bit for peg at bottom of lyre, small drill bit for holes for violin strap,tiny bit for string holes in tail piece

q

Sanding device(s) of your choosingq

Clamps, clamps, clamps (or at least some bricks and boards)q

Materials Required:

Hardwood, oak or maple, for the body (see chart for size). (This can be a piece ofjoined wood. I have used maple shelves, available at many home centers.)

q

Small piece of hardwood about 1/4" thick for the bridge and tailpieceq

Hardwood dowel for end peg--3/8" diameter is good, about 2" longq

Cheap 1/4" 3-ply paneling for the belly and back (Make sure there is a clear area

between any decorative grooving in the paneling as wide as your lyre is going tobe to get what you want.)

q

Metal tuning pins (get a few extra for testing hole size); you can use zither pinsor piano pins.

q

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Violin end peg strapq

About 100 small brass brads or round headed tacks, nails, etc.q

Wood glueq

Boiled linseed oil, a small clean glass jar, and rags for finishingq

Tuning key to fit the pins you got (they are not all the same!)q

Construction of Option 1 Lyre

Using the information in the figures and tables, and the wood available to you,make a pattern for your body, including the hand hole and sound box. Transferthe pattern to your piece of hardwood.

1.

Cut out the body of the lyre. Then cut out the hand hole and the sound box fromthe body. The resulting piece is the supporting framework for your lyre.

2.

Check your lyre framework against your pattern. If it differs, trace theframework onto another piece of paper and do all subsequent steps using thisnew pattern.

3.

Mark and cut a back and belly out of paneling. Do not cut out the handhole yet.4.

Sand the entire framework. Be careful not to round the two surfaces to which theback and belly will be glued. Put a mark in the dead center of the outside of thebottom edge for the end peg. This will also help you tell where the handhole is togo later.

5.

Using wood glue, glue the back and belly to the body. Clamp it well and let theglue dry completely (usually overnight).

6.

Cut out the hand hole in the paneling. If you have forgotten which end is thehand hole end, look for the mark for the end peg.

7.

Continue as outlined below in "Options 1 and 2." Include all the instructionslisted in parentheses.

8.

Option 2

The differences between making this lyre and the one above are

using a router to make the sound box so there is no bottom board1.

using a better quality (not ply) wood for the top board2.

using extra pieces of wood with the grain running in a different direction to

reinforce the area around the tuning pins

3.

See Figure 6 for an indication of how the insides of this lyre differ from the one inFigure 5.

Tools Required:

Router and bit (I recommend a 3/16" or 1/4" cut diameter straight bit.)q

Jigsaw or sabre saw and wood blade (If you are using a sabre saw instead of ajigsaw you will also need a small coping saw for cutting out the bridge andtailpiece.)

q

Drill; bit for starter holes for saw, bit for tuning pins (usually 3/16" works forzither pins), bit for peg at bottom of lyre, small drill bit for holes for violin strap,tiny bit for string holes in tail piece

q

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Sanding device(s) of your choosingq

Clamps, clamps, clamps (or at least some bricks and boards)q

Materials Required:

1/4" hardwood panel for belly, tuning area supports, bridge and tail pieceq

4/4 hardwood (see chart for size) for bodyqHardwood dowel for end peg--3/8" diameter is good, about 2" longq

Metal tuning pins (get a few extra for testing hole size); you can use zither pinsor piano pins.

q

Violin end peg strapq

About 50 small brass brads or round headed tacks, nails, etc.q

Wood glueq

Boiled linseed oil, a small clean glass jar, and rags for finishingq

Tuning key to fit the pins you got (they are not all the same!)q

Construction of Option 2 Lyre

Using the information in the figures and tables, and the wood available to you,make a pattern for your body and a pattern for your reinforcing pieces.

1.

Cut out the body of the lyre from the 4/4 hardwood.2.

Rout out the sound box from the body to a depth of 3/4". You may have to dothat in steps depending on how strong your router is and how good you are atusing it. It's better to take it down 1/4" at a time than to go through the sideaccidentally.

3.

Leave a wide enough section of unrouted wood down the center of the cavity tosupport the plate of your router while you do the rest of the routing. Then take a3/4" thick block of wood and screw it to the bottom of your router plate; this willallow you to remove that center section of wood while only one edge of yourrouter plate is supported on the edge of the lyre. If your lyre is more than twicethe width of your router plate, you will have to leave two sections of unroutedwood in the body of the lyre.

4.

You can inset the back tuning reinforcement rather than simply attaching it tothe back. If you wish to do that, use your router and do it now. Only do this onthe back of the lyre! To do this, turn your lyre over and rout out a section the

depth of your panel and the height of your reinforcement piece.

5.

Cut out the hand hole from the body.6.

Cut the belly piece out of the panel to match the body, not including the tuningpin area (see Figure 6). Leave the hand hole area solid for now.

7.

Cut two pieces from the panel with their grain running as shown in Figure 6.These are the reinforcements for the tuning pin area.

8.

Sand the entire body. Be careful not to round the surfaces to which the belly andreinforcing pieces will be glued.

9.

Glue the belly to the body, clamp, and let dry completely.10.

Glue the tuning area supports to the body, one to the back and one to the front.Clamp and let dry completely.11.

Cut out the hand hole section from the belly.12.

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Continue below, under "Options 1 and 2." Do not include the instructions listedin parentheses.

13.

Options 1 and 2

Using a scrap of the wood from which you cut out the body, drill a hole slightlysmaller than a tuning pin. Hammer a spare tuning pin in with a few strokes totest the hole size. Use a small piece of scrap hardwood as a buffer between thehammer and the pin. If the hole is the wrong size, experiment until you find theright size drill bit.

1.

When you have found the correct size drill bit, lay out the holes for the tuningpins in the lyre. Spread them out across the top as evenly as possible: see Figure2. Mark and drill the holes straight down--at right angles--into the surface. Youcan use a drill press for this step if you have one, but it is not necessary.

2.

As with the tuning pins, test the drill bit size for the end peg in a piece of scraphardwood before drilling the hole for the end peg in the lyre. You want a snugfit. Put a mark in the dead center of the outside of the bottom edge for the end

peg. Drill the hole for the end peg approximately 3/4" to 1" deep. This holeshould also be at a right angle to the surface.

3.

Using your choice of the two patterns in Figure 4, cut out, shape, and sand thebridge. Gently round and smooth the surface where the strings will rest on thewood. Do not worry about cutting grooves for the strings; the strings will mostlikely seat themselves in the appropriate places when the instrument is strung.

4.

Using the pattern in Figure 7, cut out, shape, and sand the tail piece.5.

Using the small drill bit, drill the two holes for the violin peg strap in the tailpiece. Note that these two holes are drilled at an angle; see the cutaway view inFigure 7. If you wish, you may countersink the two holes on the top side of the

tail piece in order to allow the metal ends of the violin strap to seat more firmly.

6.

Using the tiny drill bit, drill the holes in the tail piece for the strings.7.

Sand, sand, and sand everything some more; it's not documentable, but it surefeels nice. This is your last chance to clean up all the edges around theinstrument.

8.

Glue in the end peg.9.

Using boiled linseed oil and a lint-free rag, oil all the wood, including the bridgeand tail piece. If you can slightly warm the linseed oil, it will penetrate much

better. Warming a small jar of oil in hot water works well. It's a pain to get to thearea under the strings once the lyre has been strung, so repeat until the (cheap

back and) belly wood have soaked up a few coats of oil. Please read carefully allinstructions about working with linseed oil and disposing of your rag.

10.

Nail down the belly and either the back, for Option 1, or the back tuning pinreinforcement, for Option 2, to the lyre with the brads, spacing them evenlyaround the entire perimeter of the lyre at approximately 2" apart andapproximately 1/4" from the edge. Nail around the hand hole also. (Be careful tooffset the brads on the belly and back sides slightly so you don't try to hammer a

brad into another brad from the other side.)

11.

Again using a small piece of scrap hardwood as a buffer between the hammerand the pin, hammer the tuning pins into the lyre with a few strokes. Hammeruntil the hole in the pin is between 1/4" and 3/8" above the body of the lyre.

12.

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Stringing and Tuning the Lyre

Put the violin strap on the tail piece. Unscrew one of the two metal ends of theviolin strap. Thread the strap through the two holes for it at the end of the tailpiece. If you countersunk those two holes, the metal ends should fit into themneatly. Screw the metal end back on, making sure the two metal ends are on the

upper side of the tail piece.

1.

Put your strings in the tail piece. If your strings have little lumps attached at oneend, then you will need to string each one through the tail piece such that thelittle lump is on the underside of the tail piece. If your strings have noattachments, then you will need to string each one through the tail piece andthen tie each end in a knot (see Figure 7) on the upper side of the tail piece. Thelowest (thickest) string should be at the dexter side of the lyre; the strings worktoward the highest (thinnest) string at the sinister side of the lyre.

2.

For this next step, if you don't already know how to string a musical instrument,call in a friend who does to help you. Place the violin strap around the end pegof the lyre. Straighten out the tail piece and bring the free end of the dextermost

string up to the dextermost tuning pin. Put the end through the hole in the pin.You want to end up with two or three wraps of wire around the pin when youare done. Do not fully tighten the strings yet; after all, the bridge isn't even inplace. Wind the pins clockwise.

3.

Once all the strings are on the lyre, slip the bridge into place under the strings. Ifthe strings are too tight to let you do this, loosen them up a bit. Place the bridgeapproximately halfway between the bottom of the handhole and the bottom ofthe lyre. See Figure 2.

4.

Now carefully tune the lyre. If you are tuning it for the very first time, and youare using steel strings, you will need to tune the instrument down about one fullstep from the tunings recommended above. The reason for this is that the woodneeds to adjust to the unfamiliar pressure of its new life. With both steel andnylon strings you must be patient: the strings will not keep in tune for long whenthey are new. Once the strings stretch in, they will keep in tune. Until then,expect the lyre to go out of tune rapidly.

Watch the bridge as you tune the lyre for the first time; it may try to pull forwardor back a bit as you tune. Just gently straighten it out with your fingers.

5.

Now play! The lyre may buzz for the first few days. If it continues to buzz after it hasbeen strung for several days, first check the area around the tuning pins and make surethat none of the string ends are touching any other strings. You can trim any excess

string ends down to about 1/2" if you like. If the bridge is the source of the buzzing, seeif one of your strings is hitting the bridge in more than one place. If so, you will have toloosen the stringing on the instrument, remove the bridge, and carefully remove somewood from the bridge so that the string only hits the bridge at one point. Make verysure the surface of the bridge is smooth before you replace it under the strings.

Sources

Babb, Warren, trans. Hucbald, Guido, and John on Music: Three Medieval Treatises,ed. and introd. Claude V. Palisca. Music Theory Translation Series, 3. NewHaven and London: Yale University Press, 1978.

q

Bruce-Mitford, Rupert and Myrtle. "The Sutton Hoo Lyre, Beowulf, and theOrigins of the Frame Harp." Antiquity, XLIV (1970), pp. 7-13, Plates I-VIII.

q

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Crane, Frederick. Extant Medieval Musical Instruments: A Provisional Catalogue byTypes. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1972.

q

Diagram Group.Musical Instruments of the World: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. NewYork: Facts on File Publications, 1976.

q

Hall, Richard. The Viking Dig: The Excavations at York. London: The Bodley Head,1984.

q

Hucbald, of Saint Amand. De Harmonia Institutione, trans. Babb.qMontagu, Jeremy. The World of Medieval and Renaissance Musical Instruments.Newton Abbot, England: David & Charles, 1976.

q

Page, Christopher. "Instruments and Instrumental Music before 1300," pp.445-484 in The Early Middle Ages to 1300, ed. Richard Crocker and David Hiley.New Oxford History of Music, II. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press,1990.

q

Panum, Hortense. The Stringed Instruments of the Middle Ages: Their Evolution andDevelopment, rev. ed. Jeffrey Pulver. Norbury, England: The New Temple Press,1939; reprinted 1971 by Da Capo Press.

q

About the Authors: Greg and Carolyn Priest-Dorman, priestdo@cs.vassar.edu (NoSoliciting!), http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~priestdo/) both work at Vassar College,where they are allowed to use the library. Dofinn-Hallr Morrisson and Th raSharptooth live on a stead outside the teeming metropolis of Jorvk, tending the landand making things out of things.

mailto:priestdo@cs.vassar.eduhttp://www.cs.vassar.edu/~priestdo/http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~priestdo/mailto:priestdo@cs.vassar.edu

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The Saxon Lyre: History, Construction andPlaying Techniques - Figures

by Dofinn-Hallr Morrisson and Th ra Sharptooth

Copyright (c) 1992, 1995 Greg Priest-Dorman and Carolyn Priest-Dorman.

This document is provided as is without any express or implied warranties. Whileevery effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained, theauthors assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting fromthe use of the information contained herein.

Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this document fornon-commercial purposes provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are

preserved on all copies.

The illistrations

Figure 1, David playing the lyre(43k jpg)

after an illistration in the Vespasian Psalter, an early eighth century Englishmanuscript showing David playing the Lyre. Note blocking with left hand andstrumming with right.

Figure 2, Anatomy of the lyre(68k jpg)Figures 3 & 4 and Tables 1 & 2, Summary of the Finds (86k jpg)

figures and tables comparing the extant Lyre and Bridge finds.

Figure 5, Illustration for construction option 1(64k gif)

Figure 6, Illustration for construction option 2(83k gif)

Figure 7, Illustration for construction of the Tail Peice(44k gif)

Back to: Saxon Lyre | My home page | CS faculty list | CS Home Page | CS Search

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Medieval Interests

Yes, I'm in the SCA

If you play, you may know me as Dofinn-Hallr Morrisson of the Shire of FrostedHills. Thora is posting several of her articles on the web.

If you are interested in the local shire you can write the Seneschal atHaraldr@drakkar.mhv.net if you have any trouble contacting him, send a note tome.

Woodworking

I am slowly trying to gather most of the tools available to the 10th centuryNorthern European woodworker. Over the last two years I have been working

with a foot powered reciprocating lathe and have recently started turning bowls.

If you have any experience with spoonbits, pole lathes, frame saws, side axes oradzes, please write me. I would like to exchange information with you.

Prior to the current lathe craze, I put together several Sutton Hoo style lyres andhave extensive research on how to make, play and tune them. I have also builtseveral other instruments from that time period and would happy to share theinfo.

I hope to have the article on the history and construction of waxed writingtablets posted here soon. Keep watching this space!

(ok, that's long enough, go back to what you were doing)

This page was writen using emacs 19.19 and psgml mode with an html2.dtd. If youhave any questions or comments about it, please send them to:

priestdo@cs.vassar.edu No Soliciting!

This page last was mucked with on 12/18/96

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