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Anglo-saxon harp

Anglo-saxon harp.jpg Harp, ninth centuryThumbnailsCitoleHarp, ninth centuryThumbnailsCitoleHarp, ninth centuryThumbnailsCitoleHarp, ninth centuryThumbnailsCitoleHarp, ninth centuryThumbnailsCitole

The Anglo-saxons frequently accompanied their vocal effusions with a harp, more or less triangular in shape,—an instrument which may be considered rather as constituting the transition of the lyre into the harp. The representation of king David playing the harp is from an Anglo-saxon manuscript of the beginning of the eleventh century, in the British museum. The harp was especially popular in central and northern Europe, and was the favourite instrument of the German and Celtic bards and of the Scandinavian skalds.