Lur
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{{for|the ethnic group|Lurs}}
[[Image:Bronse-Lurer-Danmark.png|thumb|right|Bronze Lurs found in [[Brudevælte Mose]], northeast of [[Lynge]] in North [[Zealand]], [[Denmark]].<ref>[http://abel.hive.no/trompet/lur/bronze/brudevaelte.html Bronze lurs - The Brudevælte lurs<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>]]
'''Lur''' is a name given to two distinct types of [[wind instrument|wind]] [[musical instrument]]. The more recent type is made of [[wood]] and was in use in [[Scandinavia]] during the [[Middle Ages]]. The older type, named after the more recent type, is made of [[bronze]], dates to the [[Bronze Age]] and was often found in pairs, deposited in [[bog]]s, mainly in [[Denmark]].
A total of 56 lurs have been discovered: 35 (including fragmentary ones) in [[Denmark]], 4 in [[Norway]], 11 in [[Sweden]], 5 in northern [[Germany]], and a single one in [[Latvia]].
==Wooden lurs==
The earliest references to an instrument called the lur come from [[Iceland]]ic [[sagas]], where they are described as [[war]] instruments, used to marshal troops and frighten the enemy. These lurs, several examples of which have been discovered in [[longboat]]s, are straight, end-blown wooden tubes, around one meter long. They do not have finger holes, and are played much like a modern [[brass instrument]].
A kind of lur very similar to these war instruments has been played by [[farmer]]s and milk maids in [[Nordic countries]] since at least the [[Middle Ages]].{{Fact|date=February 2007}} These instruments were used for calling [[cattle]] and signaling. They are similar in construction and playing technique to the war instrument, but are covered in [[birch]], while the war instruments are covered in [[willow]].
==Bronze lurs==
The [[bronze]] instrument now known as the lur is most probably unrelated to the wooden lur, and has been named by 19th century archaeologists, after the 13th century wooden lurs mentioned by [[Saxo Grammaticus]].
Bronze lurs date back to the [[Nordic Bronze Age]], probably to the first half of the [[1st millennium BC]]. They are roughly S-shaped conical tubes, without finger holes. They are end blown, like brass instruments, and they sound rather like a [[trombone]]. The opposite end to the blown one is slightly flared, like the bell on a modern brass instrument but not to the same degree. A typical bronze lur is around two metres long.
==Lurs today==
The word ''lur'' is still very much alive in the [[Swedish language]], indicating any half-moon shaped implement used for producing or receiving sound. A mobile [[telephone]], for instance, is commonly referred to as a ''lur'' in contemporary Swedish (derived from ''telefonlur'', telephone receiver). A Danish brand of butter is named after the lur.
== References ==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Aerophones]]
[[Category:Nordic Bronze Age]]
[[Category:Norwegian musical instruments]]
[[Category:Wind instruments proper]]
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[[de:Lure (Blasinstrument)]]
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