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Though the age of "summer farms" has dwindled and many "seters" have been abandoned, in the summer of 2008, there were still 1100 independent summer farms in use. There were also over 200 "shared summer farms" for goats and cattle. Archaeological finds have proven the tradition of summer farms was used in the 7th century - Iron Age! With farmland being so scarce in Norway and Sweden, per
haps 10 acres or less, farmers need these acres for growing their crops during the summer months. This means they must move their cattle and sheep up into the mountains to graze. In the 12th century, old Norwegian Law stated if a farmer didn't send his herds to summer pasture he could be reported for illegal grazing - "grass robbery"! Other valuable perks of the summer pasture: fishing and hunting, haymaking in adjacent meadows and gathering wood.
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The children and older women of the family were usually left to care for the animals; herding and milking them. They also ran their own little dairy, making cheese and butter. And mmm...that good 'geitost' goat cheese! Either you love it or you hate it. The ladies also got to spin wool and knit stockings (and probably darn stockings!) and mittens for the coming winter. The "seter" (summer mountain farm) would have a little cottage and a "stabbur" for storing their cheese, butter and supplies. The stabbur was built on rock pillars to keep out the rodents.
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There were no neighbors to a seter, just surrounding forest land between the seters, cutting the herdswomen off from civilization, so they had to handle every situation on their own. These girls developed a means of communication through a method of singing called "kulning" - also known as "kauning" in some parts of Norway and Sweden. The sound is sung without vibrato and at full volume, a very concentrated and high-pitched vocal sound which carried long distances. Each tune has a particular function - different songs for different situations. If an animal wandered off, a herdswoman could call it back with a few notes of music. If she needed help finding one of the flock, she could sing the message so girls in other seters would 
know to help search. (The herders got close to their animals while up in the mountains and since the herds were small with only about a dozen animals, those animals often learned to recognize their own names). Kulning was a comfort to the girl who became lonesome also, as this was a way to communicate with girls in other seters by using their kulning tunes.
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The only weapons the girl had to protect herself and her animals if a wolf or bear attacked, were wind instruments. Using them to make loud and ferocious noises, she hoped to frighten away that big bear! We haven't heard how many of those bears didn't get scared... Life and death stuff. The animals were very precious to the farmers and it was the girl's duty to bring each one of them back home in the fall. Without them, a family could face starvation. Ram and cow horns with 3 or 4 finger-holes were the usual wind instruments. Visnum, Sweden can boast to having th
e oldest surviving animal horn, dating back to the the end of the Iron Age. There are few big-horned animals in Scandinavia, so the Scandinavians often made a wind instrument from wood which they wrapped with birch bark and called a "lur". I am not sure how this would differ from the vuvu horns heard at Minnesota games??
e oldest surviving animal horn, dating back to the the end of the Iron Age. There are few big-horned animals in Scandinavia, so the Scandinavians often made a wind instrument from wood which they wrapped with birch bark and called a "lur". I am not sure how this would differ from the vuvu horns heard at Minnesota games??
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Kulning supposedly was developed by young girls who were alone with the goats and cattle all summer. They needed company when they were lonely and help when trouble came. Their kulning sound traveled long distances, ringing and echoing against the mountains. The girls liked to embellish their tunes with trills It was said the "kulade" at times was so beautiful "that men would lean on their scythe handles and women on their rakes - just listening. They were so enchanted by the grace of her trills that they couldn't work."
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Remaining seters in our time have become more diversified. Some are single farms, o
thers are shared summer farms. Some are purely milking operations while others process milk. Some have roads and other seters are secluded. Tourist business has helped the economy with several farms
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I would be so bored by myself all the time. That is amazing that these girls lived like this. That horn does look similar to the one we see at football games. Would like a little audio with this blog, so I can hear her Kulning.
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