Traditional Norwegian Jaw/Mouth harp music

[Pallantides]

Mouth harps from ca. 1200 A.D., found in Setesdal and Telemark:


Mouth harp from Gjøvik in Oppland that is not dated but believed to be from the early middle ages:

[Onur]

I wonder how this central Asian instrument came to Scandinavia.

What is the name of this instrument in native Norwegian tongue?

[Pallantides]

It's called Munnharpe(mouth harp) in Norwegian


It's believed to have been used in Norway since at least 500 A.D., though the oldest mouth harp that have been dated is from 1200.
It's only some South Norwegian regions that have had a strong mouth harp traditions though, mainly Telemark, Valdres, Gudbrandsdalen, Hallingdal and Setesdal.

[rhiannon]

I've seen those and have a vague recollection of playing one when I was pretty young. Or at least....attempting to play it lol

[Otto Prohaska]

In English it's called a Jew's Harp.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jew%27s_harp

[Pallantides]