photo source: Bjørn Kristiansen
Tone Holte (Norway):
Kråkamål - a heroic story in words and music about Queen Åslaug
About Åslaug:
Åslaug, daughter of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer and the valkyrie Brynhild, is a character
from old Norse mythology who appears in Snorri Sturlasson's Edda, the Völsunga saga
and the Ragnar Lodbrok saga. Her parents died when she was a small girl,
and her fosterfather Heimer wanted to protect her, so he made a big harp and
travelled around as a wandering musician, with the girl hidden inside the sound box
of his instrument... (read more about Aslaug here).
Now there are differing opinions about what could have been meant by the word "harp"
in the Nordic sagas. Was it a harp in our sense of the word? Or a lyre?
Or just some stringed instrument? In any case, an instrument with a girl inside
should have a really big sound box... In the Romantic period, when Scandinavian artists
were inspired by their mythology, several paintings of Heimer and Åslaug were made
which reflect the artist's feelings about how such an instrument could have looked like.
Here, it was painted like some kind of lyre. And
here
it reminds of French 18th century harps (August Malmström: "Kung Heimer och Aslög", 1856)...
About Tone:
Tone Holte is an experienced storyteller, author, actor, culture worker and
collector of old song tradition in Akershus, Norway. She has long experience in
the communication of Nordic mythology and history, and she wrote several historical
plays, e.g. "Kråkamål". She toured with "Kråkamål" at many schools, Viking fairs and
museums in Norway: The "one-woman-storytelling" uses the Nordic heroic saga about
Åslaug (who was also called "Kråka") to cast light on the culture of the Vikings,
and it uses copies of clothes and objects from the Viking ages. The performance
includes also music and song as important parts, among other things playing flutes,
drum and lyre. A central part of the story deals with little Åslaug hiding in a lyre.
The lyre used in the play is a copy of a lyre reconstructed after an instrument
found at Kravik in Numedal, Norway. It has been dated to approximately 14th century.
The lyre was made by Per O.G. Runberg, Sweden.
