The Harp I have under construction is a step on the way to making a Rangering Harp..that is, a very light but strong Harp I can take with me while ranging about. Combined with my composite bow and Elven hunting knife, I should be well sorted. The current project won't be seen until I have completed it.
However....
I have a Lyre kit. It is not particularly period to anywhere or when, but is a kind of composite of various Old World style Lyres. It looks most like a Grecian or Roman Lyre to my eyes. What has this got to do with Rangering? Glad you asked.
Lyres & Harps are similar...it is likely the former preceded the latter, but they are so very similar in sound and performance as to make them work in the same kind of setting. Harps are more flexible in some ways, but Lyres are surprisingly flexible as well. I figure the Númenoreans had both, and likely so did the Dundedáin and Gondorians. Certainly they would be well known in Dol Amroth on the Bay of Belfalas, as that city is noted as having the finest Harpers known.
What this is leading up to is that I plan to decorate the Lyre kit to make it a sort of 'Númenorean' Lyre. Really what this means is that it will have wood-burned designs in the soundboard, painting on the body frame, and the little decorative disc that says Musicmakers on it will be flipped and the Northern Rangers design painted on it. That is it. Subtle, but a step in the right direction.
The nice thing about this Lyre is that it is quite compact and very light. Itself it is a first step to building some seriously period Lyres of the Trossingen, Sutton Hoo, or the Irish or Welsh Lyres that have been found. Those will also be dedicated to Middle Earth in a variety of ways, decorative mostly, but also carving. Perhaps I will do one that I supposedly got while going through Dol Amroth.
Dol Amroth is my favorite Gondorian city, I might add.
I may get some photos of the kit today as I begin the build. :)
Eledhwen
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