The moraharpa is a modern name for an early predecessor of the

nyckelharpa A nyckelharpa (, "keyed fiddle", or literally "key harp", plural ) is the national musical instrument of Sweden. It is a string instrument or chordophone. Its keys are attached to tangents which, when a key is depressed, serve as frets to chan ...

keyed fiddle; the primary example instrument dated 1526, was found in

Mora, Sweden Mora is a locality and the seat of Mora Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 10,896 inhabitants in 2010. History There are signs of human activity in the surroundings of Mora dating from 4000 BC. The earliest found buildings in Mora are ...

. A number of modern reproductions of the original moraharpa have been made since the 1980s, and the name ''moraharpa'', in addition to referring to a single, specific instrument, has come to mean a type of nyckelharpa similar in design to the original moraharpa.

Museum example

The instrument has an inscription on the back with the date 1526, - ''På baksidan av halsen finns inskuret "1526 " och ett par korslagda pilar. Detta instrument är förebild för den så kallade Moraharpa som idag tillhör den svenska folkmusikens instrumentarium. Repliker började tillverkas under 1980-talet.'' but it is unlikely to have been made that early. A Swedish scholar, Per-Ulf Allmo, has suggested that the instrument and another in the same style were probably built in

Särna Särna (Elfdalian: ''Sjär’n'') is a locality situated in Älvdalen Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden with 719 inhabitants in 2010. History The two parishes ''Särna'' and ''Idre'' were originally part of Norway but were occupied by an expe ...

, northern

Dalarna Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Norway i ...

around 1680, with

Praetorius Praetorius, Prätorius, Prætorius was the name of several musicians and scholars in Germany. In 16th and 17th century Germany it became a fashion for educated people named " Schulze," "Schultheiß," or " Richter" (which means "judge"), to Latinis ...

as inspiration, and with no close affinity with the nyckelharpa tradition in northern

Uppland Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small un ...

, the stronghold of the instrument. The soundbox has an hourglass shape and looks very much like the illustration of a nyckelharpa in

Michael Praetorius Michael Praetorius (probably 28 September 1571 – 15 February 1621) was a German composer, organist, and music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of musical forms b ...

Syntagma Musicum ''Syntagma Musicum (1614-1620)'' is a musical treatise in three volumes by the German composer, organist, and music theorist Michael Praetorius. It was published in Wittenberg and Wolfenbüttel. It is one of the most commonly used research source ...

III of 1620 (where it is called ). It has a straight bridge, one melody string, two drone strings, and one row of keys. It is currently displayed in the Zorn Museum in the village of Mora in

, Sweden, hence its name.

References

{{Swedish folk music Swedish musical instruments Bowed box zithers Early musical instruments