Sweden
Swedish

Wood, ebony, metal strings, horse hair
Mid 20th century
Length: 40.5 in; Width: 8.75 in; Depth: 4.5 in; Bow length: 17.25 in
Strings – Lutes – Violin Family

This Swedish Nyckelharpa is a chordophone made in Sweden, known as an ancient, ‘keyed fiddle’.  The keys are attached to tangents, which when a key is depressed, it serves as frets to change the pitch of the string.  The nyckelharpa is thought to date back to about the 1350s variations depicted in church carvings. Structurally, it is most closely related to the hurdy-gurdy, as both employ key-actuated tangents, however, the nyckelharpa is played with a short handheld bow, unlike the hurdy-gurdy, that has a rosined wheel.  This modern chromatic nyckelharpa (created by August Bohlin in 1923) has three melody strings tuned A1 – C1 – G, a drone C (from the highest to the lowest string) that is only touched occasionally, and 12 resonance strings (one for each step of the chromatic scale).  

The nyckelharpa is usually played with a strap around the neck, stabilized by the right arm.

Reference: ‘Nychelharpa,” Gunnar Fredelius/r, “The Grove Dictionary of Music al Instruments” 2^nd Edition, Oxford University Press, Laurence Libin, Editor in Chief, Vol 3, pp 616-617.