Lur - Wooden Lurs

Wooden Lurs

The earliest references to an instrument called the lur come from Icelandic 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 longboats, 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 farmers and milk maids in Nordic countries since at least the Middle Ages. These instruments, called in English a birch trumpet 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.