Talharpa

The talharpa, also known as a tagelharpa (tail-hair harp), hiiu kannel (originally hiiurootsi (which meant Vormsi island located on the halfway to Hiiumaa) <a href="/facts/Kannel_(instrument)/mYFvkQsS">kannel</a>) or stråkharpa (bowed harp), is a two to four stringed <a href="/facts/Bowed/yoLGrKeu">bowed</a> <a href="/facts/Lyre/aCzXT1L4">lyre</a> from northern Europe. It is questionable whether it was formerly common and widespread in Scandinavia. Historically, it has been played in the Estonian-Swedish areas and in Western <a href="/facts/Estonia/PVjB16TI">Estonia</a>, particularly among <a href="/facts/Estonian_Swedes/Y258RoTl">Estonian Swedes</a> who came to Estonia around the 10th century from the Swedish part of Finland; they likely brought the instrument with them (later Swedish settlers in Estonia did not know nor use the talharpa.) It is similar to the Finnish <a href="/facts/Jouhikko/rVtr2bT0">jouhikko</a> and the Welsh <a href="/facts/Crwth/ch3hkNTN">crwth</a>. Jouhikko, a close relative of talharpa, is still known in <a href="/facts/Finland/G5Ak6T91">Finland</a>.
The name talharpa probably comes from a dialectical form of the word "tagel" – horsehair – from which the strings were made.

Talharpa open-in-new

Talharpa