The Jaw Harp of Eternity

Man, I love AIM conversations. They've given me some of the best ideas ever.

A friend and I had one where she mentioned that they might eventually run out of instruments in the Zelda games, and Link would have to resort to playing the spoons in a future installment. While that idea is hilarious in itself, I decided to go a different, yet still terribly corny route.

For those who don't know, a jaw harp(or sometimes called a jew harp, but please don't ask me why) is a small, metal instrument with three horizontal prongs that you hold against your teeth, and you vibrate the middle prong between the other two and, consequently, your teeth. It sounds rather ghastly to keep something metal vibrating against your teeth, but if you play it right, you don't even think about it. The middle bar swings between your teeth and vibrates the air in your mouth, making a 'boing' sound, and you can move your cheeks and tongue to make different pitches with it. If you've seen the old Peanuts animated specials, Snoopy uses one every now and then, and most harps that you can buy from a music store will come in a box with his picture on it.

It's pretty difficult to see the one Link is holding, and I had the great idea of drawing out what the harp looked like and putting it next to the logo. Too bad I thought about it after I had finished it. :(

The Legend of Zelda and Link are © Nintendo