Kåre A Lie
Spor av Vikingenes Sanger / Traces of the Songs of the Vikings
Midgard Forlag, [2010]
This book, fully bilingual in Norwegian and English, attempts to reconstruct the musical world of Scandinavia a thousand years ago. The most interesting sections deal with the fragments of notation and also the remnants of early medieval song surviving in oral tradition to more recent times. I was suprised that the author did not compare these rare early transcriptions of narrative singing with the similar fenian lays from Scotland and Ireland. There are some useful and interesting comments on the typeof melodic formulae found in these ancient melodic fragments. Other sections cover instruments, and there is also a rather large section containing notation and description of comparative music from all over medieval Europe. 101 pages, hardback, lavishly printed wide-format with facing Norwegian and English texts, colour design on all pages, colour photographs, and numerous musical examples throughout.
£40 + £4.50 (UK only - select for overseas postage) £7.50 (Airmail within Europe) £11.50 (Airmail outside Europe)