The Bullroarer Atlas

MUS2026-144 - museum specimen

Vrbnik grmavica-germjavica bull-roarer, Krk Island (Et 9765a-e)

Croatia - Krk Island (Bodulija), Primorje-Gorski Kotar - Southeast Europe

Function not recorded

The five Vrbnik grmavica boards themselves, bundled on their string as the museum keeps them.
The five Vrbnik grmavica boards themselves, bundled on their string as the museum keeps them. Image source

grmavica / grmjavica / germjavica; zujača Croatian

Source term: zujalica / zujača (HS 412.22)

grmavica / grmjavica / germjavica = Vrbnik and Krk names for the whirled noisemaker; the museum relates the name to grmljavina, thunder. zujača = another Krk name for the buzzing/whirring instrument.

Five small wooden boards from Vrbnik carried names built around thunder: grmavica, grmjavica, and germjavica. Whirled rapidly above the head, the blades answered with a thunder-like roll—the storm compressed into a toy small enough to hold in one hand.

Svirač velikom brzinom okreće drvene pločice, obično iznad svoje glave.

The player turns the wooden plaques rapidly, usually above their head.

Ethnographic Museum Zagreb, Et 9765a-e
Object
Five corded wooden boards, 18.8–25 cm long and 4.5–5.6 cm wide, whirled rapidly overhead; Ethnographic Museum Zagreb Et 9765a-e.
Function
Whirled overhead to produce a thunder-like sound.
Map confidence
high - Vrbnik settlement centre, Krk Island; the museum record names Vrbnik explicitly.
Source location
Page references

EMZ Et 9765a-e; Galin 1988, p. 185 and English p. 136; Drazin-Trbuljak interview 2003, p. 56

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