#btw lutes come in a hilariously wide variety of sizes

[rionsanura]

Witcher Fic Lute PSA

Geralt should not get Jaskier thoughtful little presents of rosin, oil, or “polish” for his lute, unless you’re trying to induce a cheeky misunderstanding.

Lutes do not require rosin. Rosin is for bowed instruments, like violins. You shouldn’t oil a lute, especially if we’re positing a premodern lute, which were often sealed with oil-based varnish, because then you’d be basically applying a solvent to the varnish and ruining it. You probably also shouldn’t polish it, because lutes are made of extremely thin wood, which absorbs polish and gets dull again, and gradually gets duller and and duller and then you have a vaguely greasy wood that if it cracks will be really hard to glue together. And it will crack, because, as mentioned, it is extRemely thin.

(I cannot count the number of fics I’ve read in which Jaskier bravely and sacrificially uses his lute as a club, but not only would he Not Do That, it wouldn’t even help, because a lute is so heinously fragile it would crumple at even the untrained-combat-weak-bardic application to anything that contains a bone, like a human head, a monster wing, a dwarven shoulder, etc. They’re so delicate you’re not even supposed to lean them against anything or set them down, but put them in the case. If you absoLUTEly have to, put them string-side down, because the front is flat and less likely to crack. I’m not even going to get into the humidity issues lutes face, but just know, a lute is made entirely of things that warp, swell, shrink, unstick, crack, and break when the humidity changes, so. They’re not very durable.)

Better lute-related thoughtful presents:

Strings. These are made of gut, not wire. Yes, gut is intestinal fiber, usually from cow or pig, but I spy a monster-hunting opportunity here, since Geralt seems to have the opportunity to acquire an abundance of monster guts out of which to make strings, with specialist knowledge and technique he may well have, or be able to acquire. I don’t know. Maybe they’re magic.

Frets. These are also made of gut, and adjustably tied on the neck of a lute, instead of built in like on a guitar. More monster-bounty opportunity.

Pegs. This is more advanced, but still possible. If Geralt notices that Jaskier keeps having to stop and tune between songs or even during songs, a peg may be slipping. This can be temporarily and carefully ameliorated by applying a little bit of chalk to the slippy space, but that’s kind of a last resort and can cause its own problems. Better to have the peg replaced, which requires taking the whole thing to a luthier (the term now usually means someone who makes and repairs violins, violas, cellos, and basses, but it can also mean someone who makes and fixes guitars, lutes, rebecs, and other wooden bowed or plucked European instruments). This needs expert handling, because even the tiniest mismatch in size between the peg and the hole makes performance nearly impossible (unlike some other situations where we’re putting pegs in holes. These holes don’t stretch, honey). This is another reason you probably don’t want much oil near your lute; if any gets too far up the peg, it’ll take a lot of very careful work before you can ever tune it again.

Glue. This one is less plausible, but, again, lutes are extremely fragile, and prone to cracking. To fix the crack, you take it to the luthier who very carefully and with expert knowledge applies a particular kind of animal glue and braces the cracked surface or seam, probably with a vise and maybe a tape or splint. Jaskier has a Renaissance college degree in bardly studies, so I’m not counting it entirely out of the realm of possibility that he’d be able to do it himself, but despite my 11 years of music school acquaintances and numerous professional contacts, I don’t know any modern players who would ever think of attempting to fix a crack in their own instrument. However, this is another monster-hunting tie-in; maybe glue made from the collagen of a siren is particularly suited to instrumental applications?

Bonus: Voice Potion. This one’s not lute-related, but I don’t know any singer who doesn’t have a favorite concoction to drink when suffering from a respiratory issue, sore throat, swelling, or other vocal problem. I find honey-lemon tea rather drying myself, and prefer a licorice-ginger monstrosity, or the ever-popular Throat Coat tea. There’s even a line of actual, non-fantastical voice potions called Singer’s Saving Grace that I have found worthwhile on occasion, so it stands to reason that a world where potions are definitely a thing might have its own vocal health recipes. Maybe some even contain steroids for severe laryngitis. In any case, this seems like a good entry point for a very specific kind of hurt/comfort.

So that is some of the Witcher-applicable information I have acquired in my musical career, and if you want a nice short but fairly thorough guide to how people actually take care of lutes, this is pretty good.