# Lur
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{{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](/source/Zealand_(Denmark)), [Denmark](/source/Denmark)[{{Cite web |url=http://abel.hive.no/trompet/lur/bronze/brudevaelte.html |title=Bronze lurs - The Brudevælte lurs |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 }}]]]
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](/source/natural_horn) without finger holes that is played with a [brass-type embouchure](/source/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](/source/sousaphone)) and to avoid directing the loud noise at nearby people.
The name '''lur''' is used for two distinct types of ancient [wind instrument](/source/wind_instrument)s. The more recent type is made of [wood](/source/wood) and was in use in [Scandinavia](/source/Scandinavia) during the [Middle Ages](/source/Middle_Ages). The older type, named after the more recent type, is made of [bronze](/source/bronze), dates to the [Bronze Age](/source/Bronze_Age) and was often found in pairs, deposited in [bog](/source/bog)s, mainly in [Denmark](/source/Denmark) and [Germany](/source/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](/source/Norway), Denmark, [South Sweden](/source/South_Sweden), and Northern Germany. Illustrations of lurs have also been found on several [rock paintings](/source/rock_paintings) in Scandinavia.
==Wooden lurs==
{{Main|Birch trumpet}}
The earliest references to an instrument called the lur come from [Iceland](/source/Iceland)ic [sagas](/source/sagas), where they are described as [war](/source/war) instruments, used to marshal troops and frighten the enemy. These lurs, several examples of which have been discovered in [longboat](/source/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](/source/brass_instrument).
A kind of lur very similar to these war instruments has been played by [farmer](/source/farmer)s and milkmaids in [Nordic countries](/source/Nordic_countries) since at least the [Middle Ages](/source/Middle_Ages).[{{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}}] These instruments, called in English a [birch trumpet](/source/birch_trumpet), were used for calling [cattle](/source/cattle) and signalling. They are similar in construction and playing technique to the war instrument, but are covered in [birch](/source/birch), while the war instruments are covered in [willow](/source/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](/source/Denmark), 11 in [Sweden](/source/Sweden), 4 in [Norway](/source/Norway), 5 in northern [Germany](/source/Germany), and a single one in [Latvia](/source/Latvia).
==Lurs today==
The word ''lur'' is still in the [Swedish language](/source/Swedish_language), indicating any funnel-shaped implement used for producing or receiving sound. For instance, the Swedish word for [headphones](/source/headphones) is ''hörlurar'' (hearing-lurs), and a [telephone](/source/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](/source/foghorn) are respectively ''tåkelur'' and ''mistlur''. The Danish butter brand [Lurpak](/source/Lurpak) is named after the lur, and the package design contains pictures of lurs.
Icelandic composer [Jón Leifs](/source/J%C3%B3n_Leifs) wrote for lurs in some of his orchestral works.
The word ''lur'' has several other meanings in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish that are not related to sound.
==See also==
*[Natural trumpet](/source/Natural_trumpet)
*[Carnyx](/source/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
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Lur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lur) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lur?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.