Kulning

 Singers of this ancient form of Swedish herd-calling corral farm animals with haunting melodies, drawing in cows, goats, sheep and ducks with each hypnotic note.

• By Justin Calderon

7 January 2021

Skallskog is a secluded farm without running water or electricity that most Swedes have never heard of. Hidden deep in the Nordic wilderness, this humble collection of cattle barns and russet-red farmhouses may seem like a place of little importance. But this is where you’ll find the disappearing roots of an ancient Swedish singing tradition so intimately connected to nature that it can only be described as magic.

50 Reasons to Love the World - 2021

Why do you love the world?

"Because when working and singing alongside the fäbod (Swedish summer farm) women, I felt such a profound connection to them both as a part of our past and present, I just knew that I had to carry on their kulning legacy.” – Jennie Tiderman-Österberg, singer

More 50 Reasons to Love the World

Kulning is a vocalisation tradition that dates back to the Middle Ages, where singers corral farm animals with hypnotic melodies, luring cows, goats, sheep and ducks towards them as if each note was charged with its own gravity. This mystical ability originates from centuries-old fäbods (summer farms) like Skallskog, where farmwomen would traditionally call their meandering animals back home as they grazed freely during the few warm months in these frigid lands. In recent decades, as women’s place in society has shifted, these sounds have transformed from farmland pragmatism to operatic elegance.