rrows of the
humbler Christian folks.

The Hardanger violin, the lur and the langeleik have played a leading
role in the development of Norwegian folk-songs and dances. The
Hardanger instrument is more arched than the ordinary violin; there
are four strings over the finger-board and four underneath, the latter
of fine steel wire, acting as sympathetic strings. The men of the
Hardanger fjord have long been distinguished for the workmanship and
tonal qualities of their violins, and with them the peasants have
improvised the rich and varied impressions of nature which we find
embodied in folk-songs. The lur is a long wooden instrument, of the
trumpet order, and is usually made of birch bark. It is much used in
the mountains. The langeleik, or Norwegian harp, is a long, narrow,
box-like stringed instrument, something of the character of the
ancient zither. It has seven strings and sound holes, but its tone is
weak and monotonous.

The national dances of Norway have bold rythms which at once arrest
the attention. Perhaps the most characteristic is the hailing, a solo
dance in two-four time. It is usually danced by young men in country
barns, and its most striking feature is the kicking of the beam of
the ceiling. In the story of Nils the fiddler, in his novel _Arne_,
Bjoernson has given this account of the hailing: "The music struck up,
a deep silence followed, and he began. He dashed forward along the
floor, his body inclining to one side, half aslant, keeping time to
the fiddle. Crouching down, he balanced himself, now on one foot, now
on the other, flung his legs crosswise under him, sprang up again,
and then moved on aslant as before. The fiddle was handled by skilful
fingers, and more and more fire was thrown into the tune. Nils threw
his head back and suddenly his boot heel touched the beam."

The spring dance is less vigorous, but more graceful than the hailing.
It is a round dance in three-quarter time, in which two persons, or
groups of two, participate. It is danced with a light, springing step,
and has been compared with the mazurka by Liszt. Like the hailing,
however, it is markedly individual in its pleasing combinations of
tones. Forestier says of the spring dance of Norway: "There is a
freshness, a sparkle, and energy, a graceful life about it that is
invigorating."

If Lindeman was the first to collect folk-songs and dances in Norway,
Ole Bull (1810-1880) was the first to popularize them. He was, as
Gri