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Folklore: Ca' the yowes but do so in Swedish

15 Jan 21 - 06:14 PM (#4088196)
Subject: Folklore: Ca' the yowes but do so in Swedish
From: GUEST,Felipa

"Kulning is a vocalisation tradition that dates back to the Middle Ages, where singers corral farm animals with hypnotic melodies, luring cows, goats, sheep and ducks towards them as if each note was charged with its own gravity. This mystical ability originates from centuries-old fäbods (summer farms) like Skallskog, where farmwomen would traditionally call their meandering animals back home as they grazed freely during the few warm months in these frigid lands. In recent decades, as women’s place in society has shifted, these sounds have transformed from farmland pragmatism to operatic elegance.

"A kind of Nordic yodelling-meets-Dr Doolittle superpower, modern kulning has a bewitching quality that inspired Disney to include its entrancing melodies in Frozen 2. In 2016, YouTuber Jonna Jinton posted a video of her kulning to cows that racked up more than eight million views. And outdoor concerts and folk music festivals featuring trained kulning singers are continuing to popularise this spellbinding art of communicating with nature."
see more at http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20210106-kulning-a-hypnotic-swedish-singing-tradition


16 Jan 21 - 06:59 AM (#4088255)
Subject: RE: Folklore: Ca' the yowes but do so in Swedish
From: Richard Mellish

My understanding (which may be wrong) is that the main function of kulning was communication from one fäbod to another, making it somewhat analogous to American field hollers, though presumably the cows wouldn't take long to learn that a certain call meant "time to come in for milking".