Hardanger Fiddle

The hardanger fiddle (hardingfele) is the folk fiddle of Norway originally used in the farming and fishing communities of the Hardangerfjord in the western part of the country. Traditionally, the instrument was used to play songs, dances, and wedding music. It has also been embraced by nationalistic composers such as Edvard Grieg, who incorporated folk tunes played on the hardingfele into his works.

Hardanger fiddles generally have four bowed strings and an additional four sympathetic strings beneath the bridge; the latter are not played directly but are excited into vibration by the bowed strings above, adding a subtle richness to the sound. These often ornately inlaid instruments first appeared in the 1650s, and their short, straight necks and fingerboards recall those of the violin during the Baroque period. The prolific eighteenth-century fiddle makers Isak Nielsen (Skaar) Botnen and his son, Trond Isaksen Flatebø, who made this example, popularized the instrument and are responsible for the tradition that continues today.

Description: Violin-shaped box, highly decorated with inlaid mother-of-pearl and ink scroll-work designs on back, front, and sides. Light brown varnish. F-holes. Ebony tail-piece, inlaid with mother-of-pearl and ivory. Fingerboard similarly decorated. Narrow peg-box, containing eight inlaid pegs and terminating in a carved leaf ornament in front of which is placed a crowned head. Bow attached.