Editing Lur

{{Short description|Long natural horn}}
{{other uses}}
{{confused|Lurs}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2011}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2021}}
[[Image:-1300 Lure Brudevaelte anagoria.JPG|thumb|180px|right|A Bronze Age lur found in Brudevælte Mose, northeast of Lynge in [[Zealand (Denmark)|Zealand]], [[Denmark]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://abel.hive.no/trompet/lur/bronze/brudevaelte.html |title=Bronze lurs - The Brudevælte lurs<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2007-10-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927093305/http://abel.hive.no/trompet/lur/bronze/brudevaelte.html |archive-date=2011-09-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref>]]
[[Image:Neverlur.JPG|thumb|180px|right|class=notpageimage |A modern lur from Norway, made of wood wrapped in birch bark]]
A '''lur''', also '''lure''' or '''lurr''', is a long [[natural horn]] without finger holes that is played with a [[Embouchure#Brass embouchure|brass-type embouchure]]. Lurs can be straight or curved in various shapes. The purpose of the curves was to make long instruments easier to carry (e.g. for marching, like the modern [[sousaphone]]) and to avoid directing the loud noise at nearby people.

The name '''lur''' is used for two distinct types of ancient [[wind instrument]]s. 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]] and [[Germany]]. It consists of a mouthpiece and several pieces and/or pipes.  Its length can reach between 1.5 and 2 metres. It has been found in [[Norway]], Denmark, [[South Sweden]], and Northern Germany. Illustrations of lurs have also been found on several [[rock paintings]] in Scandinavia.

==Wooden lurs==
{{Main|Birch trumpet}}

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 metre 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 milkmaids in [[Nordic countries]] since at least the [[Middle Ages]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ojtrumpet.net/lur/wood/|title=The Wooden Lurs|website=ojtrumpet.net|access-date=2019-10-11|archive-date=2019-10-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191011232429/http://ojtrumpet.net/lur/wood/|url-status=dead}}</ref> These instruments, called in English a [[birch trumpet]], were used for calling [[cattle]] and signalling. 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==
Lurs made of bronze were used as musical instruments in ancient Greece, as well as in northern Europe where a total of 56 lurs have been discovered: 35 (including fragmentary ones) in [[Denmark]], 11 in [[Sweden]], 4 in [[Norway]], 5 in northern [[Germany]], and a single one in [[Latvia]].

==Lurs today==
The word ''lur'' is still in the [[Swedish language]], indicating any funnel-shaped implement used for producing or receiving sound. For instance, the Swedish word for [[headphones]] is ''hörlurar'' (hearing-lurs), and a [[telephone]] might be referred to as a ''lur'' in contemporary Swedish (derived from ''telefonlur'', telephone handset), and ''luuri'' is similarly used in Finnish for the handset part of old-fashioned landline telephones. The Norwegian and Swedish words for [[foghorn]] are respectively ''tåkelur'' and ''mistlur''. The Danish butter brand [[Lurpak]] is named after the lur, and the package design contains pictures of lurs.

The word ''lur'' has several other meanings in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish that are not related to sound.

==See also==
*[[Natural trumpet]]
*[[Carnyx]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Lurs (musical instruments)}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120217055307/http://www.folkemusikksenteret.no/default.asp?shop=1&enkeltID=SFSPCD071 2007 CD by Odd Sylvarnes Lund of Lur and Bukkehorn music]
*[http://per-olof.dk/lur/lurmusic.htm Information on recordings with modern use of the old instruments]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20131216090858/http://abel.hive.no/trumpet/lur/ The Nordic Lurs], part of O.J.'s Trumpet Page

{{Natural horns}}
{{Trumpets}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Danish musical instruments]]
[[Category:Early musical instruments]]
[[Category:Natural horns and trumpets]]
[[Category:Nordic Bronze Age]]
[[Category:Germanic archaeological artifacts]]
[[Category:Norwegian musical instruments]]
[[Category:Sámi musical instruments]]