{"id":"ELSCHEK1983-001","label":"Slovak húkadlo, the swineherds’ roarer","people_or_site":"Slovak herders and village boys","country_current":"Slovakia","historic_region":"Slovakia","macroregion":"Europe / Central Europe","local_name":"húkadlo","source_term":"húkadlo","source_language":"Slovak","object_description":"A flat wooden board 10–30 cm long and 5–8 cm wide, sharpened along its edges and tied to a cord of 80–100 cm; the edges may be notched or the board painted.","function_summary":"Swineherds, especially the gondáši, whirled it to drive pigs; boys played with it in the meadows and at herding, or sounded it to make an eerie noise.","attestation_type":"ethnographic_attestation","source_key":"ELSCHEK_TLK_HUKADLO","source_type":"secondary_literature","source_url":"https://www.ludovakultura.sk/polozka-encyklopedie/hukadlo/","page_or_plate":"online encyclopedia entry","map_confidence":"low","plot_status":"plot","coordinate_basis":"Banská Bystrica, where the illustrated húkadlá are held (Literary and Music Museum archive); the entry names no region.","jade_complex_role":"","blurb":"Slovak swineherds drove their pigs with a whirling board. The húkadlo is a flat slat of wood a hand or two long, its edges sharpened, sometimes notched or painted, on a cord about a metre long. Swung round the head, its edge cuts the air with a hooting, deep, mysterious note that wavers as the swing speeds and slows. The gondáši, the pig-herders, used it to move their animals; boys played with it in the meadows and out at pasture, and swung it to make a sound that frightened.","pull_quote":"","pull_quote_translation":"","pull_quote_cite":"","term_gloss":"gondáš = Slovak swineherd.","cls":"play_practical","class_label":"Play / practical","color":"#24766D","is_candidate":false,"flags":["toy_survival"],"f_jade_complex":false,"f_women_taboo":false,"f_women_special":false,"f_snake":false,"sources":[{"citation":"Oskár Elschek, \"húkadlo\", Encyklopédia tradičnej ľudovej kultúry Slovenska (ludovakultura.sk, 2017); after Elschek, Slowakische Volksmusikinstrumente (Leipzig, 1983)","url":"https://www.ludovakultura.sk/polozka-encyklopedie/hukadlo/"}],"source_citations":"Oskár Elschek, \"húkadlo\", Encyklopédia tradičnej ľudovej kultúry Slovenska (ludovakultura.sk, 2017); after Elschek, Slowakische Volksmusikinstrumente (Leipzig, 1983)","source_display":"Oskár Elschek, \"húkadlo\", Encyklopédia tradičnej ľudovej kultúry Slovenska (ludovakultura.sk, 2017); after Elschek, Slowakische Volksmusikinstrumente (Leipzig, 1983)","date_citation_display":"","object_display":"A flat wooden board 10–30 cm long and 5–8 cm wide, sharpened along its edges and tied to a cord of 80–100 cm; the edges may be notched or the board painted.","function_display":"Swineherds, especially the gondáši, whirled it to drive pigs; boys played with it in the meadows and at herding, or sounded it to make an eerie noise.","confidence_display":"low","attestation_label":"ethnographic attestation","etymology_hedge":"","people_key":"slovak herders","display_name":"Slovak húkadlo, the swineherds’ roarer","image":{"full":"assets/objects/hunt_rounds123_2026_10_30/elschek1983-001_hukadlo-handle.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/hunt_rounds123_2026_10_30/thumbs/elschek1983-001_hukadlo-handle.jpg","alt":"A plain pale wooden board pierced at the left end, tied by a short twine to a turned wooden handle.","credit":"Literárne a hudobné múzeum, Banská Bystrica; photo V. Kyseľ, 2006 (ludovakultura.sk)","source_page":"https://www.ludovakultura.sk/polozka-encyklopedie/hukadlo/","rehosted":true,"representative":false,"caption":"A Slovak húkadlo with its cord and wooden handle.","additional":[{"full":"assets/objects/hunt_rounds123_2026_10_30/elschek1983-001_hukadlo-braided.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/hunt_rounds123_2026_10_30/thumbs/elschek1983-001_hukadlo-braided.jpg","alt":"A pale wooden board with a rounded, narrowed head, its braided red and black cord trailing in loops.","credit":"Literárne a hudobné múzeum, Banská Bystrica; photo V. Kyseľ, 2006 (ludovakultura.sk)","source_page":"https://www.ludovakultura.sk/polozka-encyklopedie/hukadlo/","rehosted":true,"representative":false,"caption":"A second húkadlo on a braided red-and-black cord."}]},"slug":"elschek1983-001-slovak-herders-and-village-boys"}