ABSTRACT
In 1940 Hortense Panum wrote: ‘On their way from the tailpiece to the pegs, the strings on bowed instruments pass over a small piece of thin wood set up on the table, usually with a perforated design, called the bridge, and then, just before they reach the pegbox, they cross a narrow strip of hard wood — the saddle or nut — found on all fingerboard instruments’ (Stringed Instruments of the Middle Ages, p. 187). It is a fact, however, that ‘folk’ fiddles may be found in various parts of the world built without nuts. The strings of Greek and Cretan lyras, for instance (plate 1), pass freely over the point where the neck widens into the flat disc of the pegbox and proceed directly to the pegs. The holes in the pegs are positioned so that the strings are raised above the pegbox, neck and soundboard which lie in a single plane. This method of fastening was widely used during the 12th and 13th centuries on bowed instruments of the fiddle type.
