the troll's fiddle!

This troll's head balefully gazes from the scroll top the world's oldest yet found Norwegian Hardanger Fiddle, the Jaastadfela, or the Jaastad Fiddle:

 

There's a long tradition of fiddle music being learned from communications, eavesdropping, exchange, or barter with otherworldly Nordic creatures, so as that idea went forward into the conversion, music was demonized and rulers & clergy began to hold burnings where these now-demonic tools were tossed onto the pyre. With this destruction we've lost some of the throughline as to how old these amazingly wrought fiddles with their beautiful inlay, distinct carving, and their extra two to five sub-bridge sympathetic strings to catch vibrations from the top four that produce a more resonant droning/ringing which many might consider magical in its way. It was also originally painted yellow, so its appearance must've been that much more striking to pair with its differing sound.

If we go way further back into the Norse Lore than this 1651 CE fiddle dates (and still way past a probable fiddle case find from 1512 CE), we read in The Saga of Erik the Red ch 4 how seidworker Thorbjorg the Little Völva requires a girl to sing varðlokkur, where the word "warlock" probably comes from, which can possibly be interpreted as "to lure the spirits." This, and other references like Saxo's Gesta Danorum to arch-Heathen priests using instrumental bells & dancing, indicates an association with music as a tool for communing/working with the supernatural. One might expect the droning tagelharpa to be a middle part of this lost continuity. 

In terms of later fiddle-specific narratives, there are many Shetland folkloric Trow (their islands' subterranean elven-ish hidden folk) involving human fiddle players being wrangled to entertain underground at their events, or Trows gifting magic fiddles, making supernatural string upgrades to their guest musicians, or people hearing the music from under hills or up from wells, and learning tunes of enchantment from them!

To support this last bit with the implication of a Heathen throughline, for the Hardanger fiddle there's a tuning called a Trollstemt, the troll tuning of A-E-A-C♯. Trollstemt is used for the famous traditional tune Fanitullen, also called the devil's tune, which according to a later legend incites conflict to reach a crescendo of murderous violence! Here one can't help but think that maybe this might go back to a possible operating principal of evoking a Berserker rage.

[NorsePlay would like to thank the Nordic Mythology Podcast for bringing this awesome artifact to our attention, and Storytime With Marjolein for her tales of the Trows.]

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Guillermo Maytorena IV knew there was something special in the Norse Lore when he picked up a copy of the d'Aulaires' Norse Gods and Giants at age seven. Since then he's been fascinated by the truthful potency of Norse Mythology, passionately read & studied, embraced Ásatrú, launched the Map of Midgard project, and spearheaded the neologism/brand NorsePlay. If you have employment/opportunities in investigative mythology,  field research, or product development to offer, do contact him.