Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1993, Qupperneq 123

ÍSLENSKA LANGSPILIÐ
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Ritaskrá
Ari Sæmundsen. Leiðarvísir til að spila á langspil.... Akureyri, 1855.
Edlin, Herbert L. What Wood is That? New York, Viking Press, 1969.
Eggen, Erik. Skalastudier. Oslo, Eberh. B. Oppis Forlag, 1928.
Finnur Jónsson. Um söng á 19. öld í ýmsum sveitum. Handritasafn séra Bjarna Þorsteinsson-
ar í Stofnun Arna Magnússonar á Islandi. Bréfasafn I.
Friðrik Guðni Þórleifsson. Um langspil. Óprentuð 3. stigs ritgerð í sagnfræði 1971. f Háskóla-
bókasafni.
Guðrún Sveinsdóttir. Um langspil. Tónlistin. Tímarit Félags íslenskra tónlistarmanna.
Reykjavík, 5. árg. 1946.
Hallgrímur Helgason. Tónmenntir a-k. Reykjavík, Bókaútgáfa Menningarsjóðs og Þjóðvina-
félagsins, 1977.
íslands-leiðangur Stanleys 1789. Ferðabók. ... Steindór Steindórsson frá Hlöðum íslenskaði.
Reykjavík, Bókaútgáfan Örn og Örlygur, 1979.
Jón Steingrímsson. Æfisaga Jóns prófasts Steingrímssonar eptir sjálfan hann. Sögufélag gaf
út. Reykjavík, Prentsmiðjan Gutenberg, 1913-1916.
Kendall, Alan. The World of Musical Instruments. New York, Hamlyn Press, 1972.
Mackenzie, Sir George Steuart. Travels in the Island of Iceland during the Summer of the
Year MDCCCX. Edinburgh, 1811.
Marcuse, Sibyl. A Survey of Musical Instruments. New York, Harper and Row, 1975.
Athugasemd pýðanda:
Greinin ber þess merki að hún var skrifuð árið 1982. Við þýðingu var reynt eftir megni að
víkja sem minnst frá texta höfundar. Þó var dálitlu aukið við, einkum fróðleik um sögu og
uppruna langspilanna. Jafnframt var myndefni breytt frá því sem fyrst var ráðgert.
Njáll Sigurðsson
SUMMARY
The purpose of this study was to examine a sampling of existing langspils in Iceland in
order to determine specific construction patterns and practices. Twenty-one langspils were
located throughout the country and were studied according to a ten step research design.
Photos of the langspils were taken, measurements made, woods identified, tracings complet-
ed, descriptions written and recordings made. Conclusions based on this compiled research
data indicate that the average length of the twenty-one langspils studied was 85.5 centi-
meters. A majority of the instruments were constructed with three strings and the most com-
mon wood used in the building process was pine. A survey was made of the tuning and
playing procedures for the langspil and a study was completed of the history of the instru-
ment.
Five langspil designs were completed during the study and three model instruments
were constructed and analysed. An educational kit was also designed for school children to
use in the langspil construction process.
The remarkable thing about musical instruments is that the moment one begins to look at
them one is taken beyond the purely technical domain. Such was the case with this study of
the Icelandic langspil. With ancestral roots linked with the seventeenth and eighteenth cen-
tury fretted zithers of northern Europe, the langspil once held an important place in the folk
culture of certain early Icelandic communities. Instrument owners and builders of the past
have written in glowing terms about their instruments and their music. Explorers who visit-
ed the country, as did Stanley in 1789 and Mackenzie in 1810, described the use of the