Psalmodikon at Bishop Hill

Inscription on psalmodikon in the museum at Bishop Hill State Historic Site: m. Peter Hellund, Galva, ca. 1870.

Also in display case: old leather-bound catechism: Dr. Mårten Luthers Lille Catechis, med Förklaring af Doct. Ol. Swebilier, Linköping, 2838.

Background and links. The psalmodikon was a monochord, or one-string instrument, developed in 19th-century Scandinavia for small, rural parishes to help keep the congregation on pitch. It flourished in Norway and Sweden, and was also used in Finland, Estonia and other countries with a lot of Lutheran churches -- including the Upper Midwest. Wikipedia has a brief profile of the psalmodikon (also spelled psalmodicon or, in Norwegian, salmodikon). And in 1998 News of Norway, a publication of the royal Norwegian embassy in the U.S., had a feature story on Beatrice Hole, a Norwegian-American woman who revived the instrument in Minnesota. The Nordic-American Psalmodikonforbundet, which she established, has a newsletter and other information at www.psalmodikon.com.