Bruce-Mitford, R. L S. and Bruce-Mitford, M. (1970). The Sutton Hoo lyre, Beowulf, and the origins of the frame harp. Antiquity 44. Vol 44, pp. 7-12.
 Title The title of the publication or report |
The Sutton Hoo lyre, Beowulf, and the origins of the frame harp | ||||||||
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Issue The name of the volume or issue |
Antiquity 44 | ||||||||
Series The series the publication or report is included in |
Antiquity | ||||||||
Volume Volume number and part |
44 | ||||||||
Page Start/End The start and end page numbers. |
7 - 12 | ||||||||
Biblio Note This is a Bibliographic record only. |
Please note that this is a bibliographic record only, as originally entered into the BIAB database. The ADS have no files for download, and unfortunately cannot advise further on where to access hard copy or digital versions. | ||||||||
Publication Type The type of publication - report, monograph, journal article or chapter from a book |
Journal | ||||||||
Abstract The abstract describing the content of the publication or report |
Recent work has demonstrated that the instrument from the Sutton Hoo ship-burial was not a harp, as provisionally reconstructed in 1948, but a lyre. The revision was needed after additional pieces of maple-wood from the instrument were recognised among miscellaneous finds. Support for the new reconstruction comes from several pre-Viking lyre-fragments from the Continent, and from illustrated manuscripts. It has also been discovered that a similar lyre was included with the Taplow burial (7th century); similarly the 5th century Abingdon burial contained a lyre, the earliest known in Europe. The 1948 harp reconstruction still has validity and musicological interest for the early medieval period; and although the origins of the true or frame-harp are still obscure, 9th-10th century Northumbria seems a likely source. The importance of the new version of the Sutton Hoo instrument lies in its insular manufacture, its close dating and royal context, and the light it throws on the Taplow burial. Further, Old English poems like Beowulf can now be studied against a more authentic musical background. | ||||||||
Year of Publication The year the book, article or report was published |
1970 | ||||||||
Locations Any locations covered by the publication or report. This is not the place the book or report was published. |
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Source Where the record has come from or which dataset it was orginally included in. |
BIAB
(British Archaeological Abstracts (BAA))
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Created Date The date the record of the pubication was first entered |
05 Dec 2008 |
