Neo-Medieval Folk

Neo-medieval folk is a contemporary folk style that reconstructs the sound world of medieval and Renaissance Europe using period instruments such as the hurdy-gurdy, lute, shawm, nyckelharpa and frame drum alongside modern folk accompaniment. Performers draw on surviving medieval songbooks, courtly dance forms and troubadour traditions, often singing in Latin or archaic vernacular languages. Emerging from the German medieval market and festival scene of the 1990s and overlapping with neofolk and pagan folk, the genre balances historical reconstruction with modern songcraft, favoring modal melodies, drone accompaniment and communal, processional movement over conventional verse-chorus pop structures.