Hummel (instrument)

The hummel (also hommel or humle[1]) is an old Northern European stringed instrument similar to an older type of zither and is related to the Norwegian langeleik.

The earliest evidence of the instrument in Swedish folk culture is from the 17th century, and it seems to have been most common in the southern parts of the country.

During the 19th century, the hummel was considered to be a primitive peasant instrument and its popularity dwindled.

In Flanders, these instruments appeared during the 17th century and were popular with soldiers in the trenches during World War I, climaxing in the 1920s and 1930s but by the 1930s they returned to obscurity.

The identically tuned melody strings are often fretted in unison or so to create a major third.