What Did the Vikings Sing?

Presented 2018-2019 at Mystic Sea Music Symposium (CT), Mystic Viking Days (CT) and Hurstwic Viking Living History group (MA)

What sources do we have that tell us about the music of the Vikings? If they are from Viking times or from Viking lands, how do we use them to reconstruct Viking music? How do we know we can trust these sources? Who are the leaders in interpreting Viking music today, and how do they approach this work?

What Did the Vikings Sing? (45-60 min) is a digital and live performance demo/discussion of 8th-11th century Norse music as historically informed performance. We review primary manuscript sources, archaeological finds of musical instruments and the luthiers reproducing them, traditional Scandinavian song and chant traditions that complement Icelandic saga and Eddic poetry, and contemporary artists reinterpreting the saga tradition on tour and on television. In live performances, Lynn performs and teaches you the oldest piece of notated music in Old Norse, played on a reproduction of the Sutton Hoo lyre.