The Bullroarer Atlas

LUND2020-003 - ethnographic attestation

Scania young men

Sweden - Scania - Skåne - Northern Europe

Sacred / spirit

A traditional wooden Scanian bull-roarer, an oval slat on a long cord, as figured by Cajsa Lund; in 1940s Scania young men reportedly used...
A traditional wooden Scanian bull-roarer, an oval slat on a long cord, as figured by Cajsa Lund; in 1940s Scania young men reportedly used instruments like this to lure bats for an aphrodisiac brew. Cajsa S. Lund, 'The Bull-roarer', in Music and Sounds in Ancient Europe (EMAP), fig. 1 Image source

Source term: traditional wooden bullroarer

In Scania, in southern Sweden, young men were still using bullroarers to attract bats as late as the 1940s. The captured animals were killed, dried, and pulverised, then used to brew an aphrodisiac potion. The music archaeologist Cajsa S. Lund, who records the practice, illustrates it with a traditional wooden bullroarer from Scania, the kind swung in wide circles to produce a low, carrying buzz.

In Scania, Sweden, as late as in the 1940s, young men attracted bats with bullroarers. The animals were killed, dried, pulverised and then used for brewing an aphrodisiac potion.

Cajsa S. Lund, "The Bullroarer. A Global and Timeless Sound Instrument," in Music and Sounds in Ancient Europe (EMAP), p. 31
Object
Lund reports that in Scania, Sweden, as late as the 1940s young men attracted bats with bullroarers for an aphrodisiac-brewing practice.
Function
Folk-magic bullroarer use connected with bat capture and aphrodisiac preparation.
Map confidence
medium - Scania regional anchor; Lund does not name a village.
Source location
EMAP p. 31; fig. 1 traditional wooden bullroarer from Scania

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