The earliest known instrument is dated 1651 although we do not know whether this date is correct. By 1850 it had developed into the Hardanger fiddle known today.
ð ɪ WORD_BOUNDARY ɜː l ɪ ɪ s t WORD_BOUNDARY n oʊ n WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ n s t ɹ ə m ə n t WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ z WORD_BOUNDARY d eɪ t ɪ d WORD_BOUNDARY w ʌ n WORD_BOUNDARY θ aʊ z ə n d WORD_BOUNDARY s ɪ k s h ʌ n d ɹ ɪ d WORD_BOUNDARY f ɪ f t i WORD_BOUNDARY w ʌ n WORD_BOUNDARY ɔ l ð oʊ WORD_BOUNDARY w iː WORD_BOUNDARY d uː n ɑ t WORD_BOUNDARY n oʊ WORD_BOUNDARY w ɛ ð ə ɹ WORD_BOUNDARY ð ɪ s WORD_BOUNDARY d eɪ t WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ z WORD_BOUNDARY k ə ɹ ɹ ɛ k t WORD_BOUNDARY b aɪ WORD_BOUNDARY w ʌ n WORD_BOUNDARY θ aʊ z ə n d WORD_BOUNDARY eɪ t h ʌ n d ɹ ɪ d WORD_BOUNDARY f ɪ f t i WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ t WORD_BOUNDARY h æ d WORD_BOUNDARY d ɪ v ɛ l ə p t WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ n t ʊ WORD_BOUNDARY ð ə WORD_BOUNDARY h ɑ ɹ d eɪ n d̠ʒ ə ɹ WORD_BOUNDARY f ɪ d ə l WORD_BOUNDARY n oʊ n WORD_BOUNDARY t ə d eɪ WORD_BOUNDARY