Hardanger Jen

This is my friend Jen playing her Hardanger fiddle, a beautiful 8 stringed violin.

A Hardanger fiddle (or in Norwegian: hardingfele) is a traditional stringed instrument used originally to play the music of Norway. In modern designs, the instruments are very similar to the violin, though with eight or nine strings (rather than four on a standard violin) and thinner wood. Four of the strings are strung and played like a violin, while the rest, aptly named understrings or sympathetic strings, resonate under the influence of the other four, providing a pleasant haunting, echo-like sound.

In many folktales the devil is associated with the Hardingfele, in fact many good players were said to have been taught to play by the devil.During religious revivals in the 1800s many fiddles (regular and Hardanger) were destroyed or hidden both by fiddlers and laypeople who thought "that it would be best for the soul that the fiddles be burned", as it was viewed as a "sinful instrument that encouraged wild dances, drinking and fights."

Party time!


My wife got back from America today HURRAY!


Peace Blipdudes