A 2- to 4-stringed bowed lyre from northern Europe, probably once common across Scandinavia.

The name probably comes from a dialectical form of the word 'tagel' - horsehair - from which the strings were originally made.

Talharpas were traditionally built by hollowing out a single block of wood and glueing a soundboard on top, as can be seen from many instruments stored in the museums in Estonia and Finland. In modern times, many talharpa makers continue to build their musical instruments from solid wood, but others began to follow the classical school of lutherie, with each part assembled and characterised by reinforcements, bands, counter-bands, figured bottoms and blocks.