The Lur and Prillar Guri: Dr. Joan Paddock
The lur is one of the great folk instruments of Scandinavia and was traditionally used by women at mountain farms, or sæters, in the summertime to gather the herds of cows, sheep, or goats. Less well known is the role of the lur in the story of Prillar Guri, who saved Norway from invaders at the Battle of Kringen in August of 1612. Join me as I interview the marvelous storyteller, musician, and player of the lur, Dr. Joan Haaland Paddock of Linfield University, who explains the features of the instrument, the natural scale that it plays, the origins of the Kalmar War, and the legend of the heroine, Prillar Guri.
History has failed to record the great contributions of women in peacetime as well as wartime, so we celebrate the story as they do in Sel Municipality in Gudbrandsdalen, Norway. As part of this discussion, you’ll learn why the bunads, or festive folk dress of the Gudbrandsdalen today are include the tartan of the Scottish clan Sinclair.
Video Links
The Norsk Høstfest Schoolfest video entitled “Norwegian Music on the Lur and the Story of the Girl Who Saved Norway by Playing Her Lur” where Dr. Paddock demonstrates how the lur is constructed, what it sounds like, and who Prillar Guri was. Includes pictures of Norway, illustrations of Prillar Guri, an explanation of what a bunad is (hers is the green Nordland bunad), and demonstrations of other instruments, such as the mouth harp and seljefløyte (willow flute). You can download a Lesson Plan for elementary and middle school students (highly adaptable) and also view a Nordic Culture Presentation (“Nordic Notions“) where Dr. Paddock explains souvenirs and heirlooms, including trolls, sølje (silver brooches for bunads), Nordic knitting, rosemaling, and a bit about why attending the Norsk Høstfest is so fun.
Magnar Storbekken video “Den Lange Luren” (the Long Lur) from 2020, showing the exacting process of making a lur. By Lurfilm and Bjørnetjenester/Simestad and Storbekken. This video is special because Magnar was one of the foremost and last remaining lur and seljefløyte maker; sadly he passed away in 2022.
The Lur of Prillar Guri, a lecture at Linfield University in 2017 where Dr. Paddock is a Professor of Music. This is a more complete version of the lur and the story of Prillar Guri (aimed at adults), as told by Dr. Paddock. As you may have heard in the podcast, Dr. Paddock has woven together a large number of sources to present a complete story based on historical and literary sources.
Information Links
Links of interest assembled by Dr. Joan Paddock, on schools of music, Scandinavian organizations and festivals, and Performing Organizations & Performers.
The Scottish March of 1612 and the Battle of Kringen, by Sel Historielag, a comprehensive presentation of the Kalmar War, Norwegian history, maps, mermaids, and how tartan patterns became part of the Gudbrandsdalen and Valdres bunads. The Sel Historielag (https://www.otta2000.com/) is a historical association based in Sel Municipality, with the town of Otta at the center.
The “Budstikke” article (translated by Google as “messenger”) at the Large Norwegian Encyclopedia SNL, describes the curious message carrier used to call people to meetings or alert the population to an attack. Those who were passed a budstikke were obligated to pass it on (after reading the enclosed message) or pay a fine. If the article doesn’t appear in English, you can translate it using a right-click on the page and selecting “translate to English” in the drop-down.
The “Arquebus” article at Wikipedia describes the long gun that brought down George Sinclair in the Battle of Kringen.
Arthur Stavig’s Prillar-Guri: A Heroine of Old Norway (1980) – a book – is a compilation of the Prillar Guri story as it appeared over several publications (a serialized story) in the Romsdal Budstikka, the newspaper named after the messenger tube. Stavig is credited with bringing Prillar Guri’s story to the English-speaking world where it has become more widely known. The book is available used as it’s out of print.
Prillar Guri and her Circle of Relatives, an examination by Lars Løberg of whether Prillar Guri was real or legendary, and what the evidence is either way.
Literature and Music Links
Norwegian poet Edvard Storm wrote a poem that tells the story of the battle, Zinklarvisa (“Sinclair’s ballad”). A musical version of Sinklar’s Visa (Song of Sinclair) by the group Tyr, can be heard here. There’s also a discussion of “The Ballad of Sinclair“, with links to various versions and melodies.
Henrik Wergeland wrote a historical tragedy called Sinklars Død (The Death of Sinclair). The plotline concerns Sinclair and his lady, telling of the fatal choices that led to the tragic deaths at Kringen.
Pictures
Sinclair’s Landing [the Scottish mercenaries] in Romsdal, on the Isfjord, a painting by Adolph Tidemand & Morten Müller. Available under a Creative Commons license from Wikimedia Commons.
The Battle of Kringen (Slaget pâ Kringen) by Georg Nielson Strømdal, depicting the event on August 26th, 1612, when Norwegian forces defeated the invading Scots (hired by the King of Sweden). Note the pile of falling logs in the background, the Gudbrandsdalslågen River at the right, and how narrow the passage was at this location near Otta in Gudbrandsdalen. Several mercenaries are wearing the Sinclair tartan, which was to become part of the rondestakk plaid pattern on Gudbrandsdalen men’s and women’s bunads today. Prillar Guri helped make this battle successful because of her warning on the lur.
The memorial marker (mindestein) at the battle site in Kringen depicts Prillar Guri and her lur in relief at the top. Photo by Arnfinn Kjelland, 2009, used under CC license. The unveiling of the memorial stone at Kringen in 1912, replacing the one that was erected in 1827, was a big event that even the king attended. There’s also a marker at the top of Prillarguritoppen mountain from which Prillar Guri alllegedly signalled the arrival of the Scots. You pass this memorial near Otta while walking St. Olav’s Way (aka Pilegrimsleden), the pilgrimage trail between Oslo and Nidaros.
The Coat of Arms of Sel Municipality, showing Prillar Guri and her lur, was adopted in 1985. From the Wikipedia article on “Sel”.
Op under fjeldet toner en lur (Up in the Hills Blows a Lur) by the amazing Norwegian folklore artist , Theodor Severin Kittelsen (1900). This is a pencil and watercolor illustration (not a painting), which was Kittelsen’s preferred medium, other than pen and ink. From WikiArt under a CC license. If you want to see other Kittelsen works of creatures from folklore, together with his stories, I recommend his Troll Magic (translated by Tiina Nunnally). A review I wrote for the Norwegian American can be found here.
The Ukranian version of the “birch trumpet” is called the is the trembita. This horn is almost 4 meters (!) long and is described on Green Tour’s Ukranian Musical Instruments page. Another “long horn” is the Swiss alpenhorn. Like the lur, both trembita and alpenhorn use the natural (harmonic) scale. Can you imagine what kind of breath force it takes to play these amazing instruments?