The Freya - a Saxon Lyre
Historians and other learned folks speculate that the lyre was played with the block and strum method. The lyre is held much like a guitar with the bottom nestled between the player's legs and the back up against the musician's belly.
The right arm (assuming a right-handed player) stretches across the soundboard to strum the strings slightly above the bridge. The left hand reaches through the large hole at the upper end of the instrument so the fingertips can dampen the unwanted strings. The strum then allows the remaining open strings to resonate with the desired chord.
Period artwork suggests this was almost certainly one method of playing. Knowing musicians, I feel certain there were other styles of playing. When I hold the Saxon lyre it seems quite natural to pluck the strings with my fingertips to sound both chords and individual tones. The only known music written specifically for the Saxon lyre had it tuned C-D-E-F-G-a or D-E-F#-G-a-b. Unless requested otherwise, I am now building them with seven strings. The extra string will allow all seven degrees of any contemporary scale or key to be played. That one string makes the instrument much more versatile for playing music not composed for the Saxon lyre.
While originally built with gut strings, I chose steel strings for my lyres and have built to withstand that tension. Steel strings are louder and more readily available in a variety of gauges. The ball end of modern wire strings makes for quicker and easier replacement when worn or dead. I would be happy to build for nylon or gut if desired. The excavated examples and recreations I've seen use metal ( zither or hammered dulcimer style) tuning pins which require a wrench to tighten or loosen the strings. I opted for ebony violin tuning pegs with a friction fit similar to a flamenco guitar or old time banjo. This allows for tool-free tuning while playing. It would be no problem to install metal pins or to step up to a modern geared banjo tuner if preferred. Basically I held to traditional materials and overall form with a couple of concessions to modernism. This creates an historic instrument that is much more practical and playable especially in settings with other contemporary instruments: a modern haerpe, if you will.
