In a workshop tucked away in the countryside of western Victoria, a fiddlemaker creates unique Norwegian instruments, helping to spice up the dying craft.

Traditionally used to play Norwegian folk repertoire, the Hardanger fiddle gained international fame when played in the soundtracks of The Lord of the Rings, providing the main voice for the Rohan theme.

Self-taught Australian fiddlemaker Martin Scuffins fell in love with the sound of the instrument in the early 2000s, and embarked on the journey to craft hybrid versions of Hardanger fiddles.

It is rare to find makers of Hardanger fiddles in Australia and Mr Scuffins' fiddles are unique.

"Basically, I taught myself by experimentation … I have a passion to restore old fiddles," he said.

"For a very long time, it didn't make a lot of sense to me to actually build an instrument from scratch when there were so many poor old fiddles out there that needed rescuing."

Hardanger fiddles have a carved animal, traditionally a dragon or lion's head, or a carved woman's head, as part of the scroll at the top of the pegbox.

Mr Scuffins said the hybrid Hardanger fiddles he made were louder, had a carved bird as part of the scroll, and the understrings rang more than the traditional instrument.

Mr Scuffins carves birds in the scroll of his Hardanger fiddles. ( ABC Ballarat: Jessica Schremmer )

Characteristics of a Hardanger fiddle

The artwork in the instrument doesn't end there.

The body of a Hardanger fiddle is highly decorated with mother-of-pearl inlay and black-pen and ink drawings called rosing.

And unlike a standard violin, a Hardanger fiddle has eight or nine strings. Four or five of the strings run under the fingerboard.

Hardanger fiddles are highly decorated with drawings and mother-of-pearl inlay. ( ABC Ballarat: Jessica Schremmer )

The earliest known example of the hardingfele, as the instrument is known in Norwegian, is from 1651, made by Ole Jonsen Jaastad in Hardanger, Norway.

It was used as a solo instrument to play traditional Norwegian folk music for dancers.

Mr Scuffins said these days many artists crossed genres playing the Hardanger fiddle.

"In Celtic music it is very appropriate, and it sounds beautiful in some of those slower Celtic tunes, particularly the slow Scottish laments; it really sings well with those tunes."

Mr Scuffins says it takes about a month to make a Hardanger fiddle. ( ABC Ballarat: Jessica Schremmer )

High demand for Hardanger fiddles

The craft of making Hardanger fiddles is still in its infancy in Australia but fiddlemakers say demand is rising.

Mr Scuffins, who runs his workshop as a small side business, said he had fielded more enquiries for instruments than he was able to make.

"Certainly, if I was doing it full time I would be able to sell them all very easily."

So far, he's been selling his instruments across the country and to the US.

Mr Scuffins says he gets more enquires for fiddles than he can make. ( ABC Ballarat: Jessica Schremmer )

Depending on whether they are made from scratch or from restorative materials, the Hardanger fiddles he makes sell for between $1,600 and $2,500.

He described them as "real works of love and art", which took about an entire month to make.

Bush Gothic's artistic director and fiddle-singer Jenny M. Thomas discovered her love for the Hardanger fiddle when she was asked to play the instrument in a performance with the New Zealand orchestra for the premiere of the Lord of the Rings.

"My goodness to play for the first time and to discover how to play it was just quite a wonderful experience, I loved it," Ms Thomas said.

"It's quite different to playing a violin … I have to listen very carefully to hear the underling and very subtle tones that come from the extra strings … that give it that special beauty.

Jenny M. Thomas says the Hardanger fiddle is quite different from a violin to play. ( Supplied: Bush Gothic )

"It's almost like a very sparkly, clear and resonate tone."

Ms Thomas believed the instrument was becoming quite popular among artists.

"If there were more instruments around I know that they would be played more."

Different materials to craft the instrument

Common timbers used to make violins and Hardanger fiddles are spruce and maple.

But Tasmanian violinmaker Adam Edwards has proven there are no limits to the wood that can be used to make a Hardanger fiddle.

"You can use whatever you want … there are some very fine Tasmanian timbers that I have used like King Billy pine timber and native olive," he said.

Mr Edwards in one of the few makers in Australia crafting the traditional Hardanger fiddle, but he gives the art and decorations of the instrument a personal touch.

"Being in Tasmania, I have to use the Tasmanian devil on my head [of the instrument]."

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Mr Edwards said the highly decorated body of the instrument stemmed from people wanting to display affluence and prosperity in the 1600s.

"They had a lot of folk art and it was tradition in those days to display your wealth and your prosperity by drawing on everything and making it look beautiful."

