It is a suggestive fact that several nations in different parts of the
world possess an ancient tradition, according to which some harp-like
instrument was originally derived from the water.
The Scandinavian god Odin, the originator of magic songs, is mentioned
as the ruler of the sea; and as such he had the name of Nikarr. In the
depth of the sea he played the harp with his subordinate spirits, who
occasionally came up to the surface of the water to teach some favoured
human being their wonderful instrument.
Vainamoinen, the divine player on the Finnish kantele, according to the
Kalewala, the old national Êpos of the Finns, constructed the first
instrument of this kind of fish-bones.
Hermes, it will be remembered, made his lyre, the chelys, of a
tortoise-shell.
In Hindu mythology the god Nareda invented the vina, a five-stringed
instrument, considered as the principal national instrument of the
Hindus, which has also the name _kach'-hapi_, signifying a tortoise.
Moreover _nara_ denotes in Sanskrit "water," and _Narada_ or _Nareda_
"the Giver of Water."
Like Nareda, so Nereus and his fifty daughters, the Nereides, mentioned
in Greek mythology, were renowned for their musical accomplishments.
Again, there is an old tradition, preserved in Swedish and Scottish
national ballads, of a skilful harper who constructs his instrument out
of the bones of a young girl drowned by a wicked woman. Her fingers he
uses for the tuning screws, and her golden hair for the strings. The
harper plays, and his music kills the murderess.[8] A similar story is
told in the old Icelandic national songs, and the same tradition has
been found still preserved in the Faroe Islands, as well as in Norway
and Denmark.[9]
May not the agreeable impression produced by the rhythmical flow of the
waves and the soothing murmur of running water have led various nations,
independently of each other, to the widespread conception that they
obtained their favourite instrument of music originally from the water?
Or is this notion traceable to a common source, dating from a
pre-historic age--perhaps from the early period when the Aryan race is
surmised to have diffused its lore through various countries? Or did it
originate in the old belief of the world with all its charms and
delights having arisen from a chaos in which water constituted the
predominant element?
Howbeit, Nareda, the Giver of Water, was evidently also the ruler of the
clouds; and Odin had his throne in the skies. Indeed, many of the
musical water-spirits appear to have been originally considered as
rain-deities. Their music may, therefore, be regarded as derived from
the clouds rather than from the sea. In short, the traditions respecting
spirits and water are not in contradiction to, but rather confirmatory
of the belief that music is of heavenly origin.