ZERRIES1942-002 - ethnographic attestation
Shilluk iron roarers, swung by boys
South Sudan - West bank of the White Nile (Shilluk kingdom) - East Africa
Play / practical
Source term: Schwirren (aus Eisen)
On the west bank of the White Nile, Shilluk boys swung bullroarers made of iron, not wood, and they swung them for play. The girls were allowed to stand by and watch.
Die Schwirren bestehen aus Eisen und werden von Knaben zum Spiel geschwungen. Die Mädchen dürfen dabei zusehen.
The bullroarers are made of iron and are swung by boys in play. The girls may watch.
Zerries 1942:31, after Frobenius Ms. 12, p. 48
- Object
- Whirled iron blades (Schwirren aus Eisen); no size or form is recorded.
- Source
- Otto Zerries, Das Schwirrholz; Untersuchung über die Verbreitung und Bedeutung der Schwirren im Kult (Stuttgart: Strecker & Schröder, 1942), p. 31, citing Leo Frobenius, unpublished D.I.A.F.E. expedition manuscript 12, p. 48
- Source location
Page references
p. 31 (Frobenius Ms. 12, p. 48)
- Source confidence
- medium
- Location note
- Shilluk language-area point (Glottolog shil1265), west bank of the White Nile near Kodok (Fashoda); the source gives no village.
Regions: Africa
- Toy / secular survival