A lur, also called a lure or lurr, is a long musical instrument made of natural materials. It has no holes for fingers and is played by holding it in the mouth like a brass instrument. Lurs can be straight or curved in different shapes. The curves helped make long instruments easier to carry, such as when marching, and prevented loud sounds from reaching nearby people.

The word "lur" refers to two different types of ancient wind instruments. The more recent type was made of wood and was used in Scandinavia during the Middle Ages. The older type, named after the more recent one, was made of bronze. It dates back to the Bronze Age and was often found in pairs, placed in wet areas called bogs, mainly in Denmark and Germany. This older lur has a mouthpiece and several pieces or pipes. Its length can be between 1.5 and 2 meters. It has been discovered in Norway, Denmark, southern Sweden, and northern Germany. Pictures of lurs have also been found on rock paintings in Scandinavia.

Wooden lurs

The earliest mentions of an instrument called the lur appear in Icelandic sagas. These stories describe the lur as a war instrument used to organize troops and scare enemies. Examples of these lurs have been found in longboats. They are straight, wooden tubes about one meter long, blown from one end. They have no finger holes and are played in a way similar to modern brass instruments.

A type of lur similar to the war instrument has been used by farmers and milkmaids in Nordic countries since at least the Middle Ages. These instruments, known in English as birch trumpets, were used to call cattle and send signals. They are built and played like the war instrument but are covered in birch wood, while the war instruments are covered in willow wood.

Bronze lurs

Lurs made of bronze were used as musical instruments in ancient Greece and in northern Europe. A total of 56 lurs have been found: 35 (including some that are broken or incomplete) in Denmark, 11 in Sweden, 4 in Norway, 5 in northern Germany, and 1 in Latvia.

Lurs today

The word "lur" is still used in the Swedish language to describe any funnel-shaped tool used for making or receiving sound. For example, the Swedish word for headphones is "hörlurar," which means "hearing lurs." A telephone may also be called a "lur" in modern Swedish, as in "telefonlur," which refers to a telephone handset. In Finnish, the word "luuri" is used to describe the handset part of old landline telephones. In Norwegian, the word for foghorn is "tåkelur," and in Swedish, it is "mislur." The Danish butter brand "Lurpak" is named after the "lur," and its packaging includes images of lurs.

The Icelandic composer Jón Leifs included lurs in some of his orchestral compositions.

The word "lur" has other meanings in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish that are not connected to sound.