Louis Thomas Hardin (Kansas, May 26th, 1916 – September 8, 1999), better known as Moondog, was an American composer, musician, poet and inventor of several musical instruments.

Blind from the age of 17 (the product of a dynamite explosion), he learned how to play and compose music largely by ear, eventually moving to New York City in 1943 so that he could be closer to his influences. There, he developed a distinct recording style, which fused classical and jazz music with Native American-inspired percussion and naturalistic “street sounds.”

Despite his status as a published and recorded artist for several major studios, Moondog could often be found on 6th Avenue between 52nd and 55th Street, where he liked to busk and sell copies of his sheet music. For these appearances, he would don a dramatic cloak and a viking helmet he had made himself, an outfit that earned him the nickname “The Viking of 6th Avenue.”

In 1972, Moondog left New York to live in Germany, a country he had idealized for its natural magnificence. There, his style shifted from its original on-the-street feel to something more serious, ethereal, and, occasionally, eclectic. Moondog would stay in Germany until his death from heart failure in 1999.