Rotte

Overview

The rotte is a plucked string instrument of the lyre family used across north-western Europe from late antiquity through the early medieval period. Most surviving examples are wooden lyres with a flat soundbox, two arms rising from the body, and a yoke connecting them, with strings stretched from the yoke down to a tailpiece. The most famous archaeological example was found at the Sutton Hoo ship burial in England.

Origin & History

Lyres of this type appear in Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian, and Continental Germanic contexts, with related forms documented from the Roman Iron Age into the high medieval period. The name “rotte” appears in medieval texts in several languages and is sometimes used loosely for related plucked or bowed string instruments. Modern scholarship distinguishes between the early wooden lyre and later bowed forms that may have shared the name.

How It’s Played

The rotte is held against the body with one arm reaching across the strings and the other plucking. Two main techniques are documented in modern reconstructions: plucking with the fingers, and “block-and-strum” playing in which the back hand mutes selected strings while the front hand strums the open strings. Tunings are speculative; modern players use scales drawn from medieval theory and surviving repertoire.

Cultural Significance

In early medieval poetry, the lyre is closely linked to the figure of the bard or scop who recited heroic and devotional verse. References in Beowulf and other texts suggest the lyre accompanied recitation in court and hall. The Sutton Hoo lyre, dating to the seventh century, is one of the most studied surviving examples and has been reconstructed and recorded by historical-performance specialists.

Related Instruments

• Lyre – the broader family of yoke-based string instruments
• Crwth – a later Welsh bowed lyre
• Talharpa – an Estonian bowed lyre still played today
• Kantele – a Finnish plucked zither tradition
• Asor – an ancient Levantine string instrument

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the rotte the same as a harp?
No. It is a lyre, with strings stretched between a yoke and the body, not a harp’s triangular frame. The two are distinct instrument families.

Was the rotte plucked or bowed?
Early forms were plucked. Later medieval references sometimes describe bowed instruments under similar names, reflecting changes over time.

Are there modern players?
Yes. Historical-performance ensembles and individual reconstructionists play modern copies, often based on the Sutton Hoo find and other archaeological sources.

Image: reconstruction photograph by Andreas Praefcke, public domain (Wikimedia Commons).