The Oseberg tube

The Oseberg tube
At Oseberg, close to the city Tønsberg in Vestfold, Norway, they found a grave-mound with a Viking
ship. Excavated in 1904, the 21.5 meters long Oseberg ship is the most magnificent of the Viking ship
finds. The ship can be seen at the Vikingship Museum in Oslo. Two women were buried in the ship.
The year of the burial is determined to 834 ADi. The ship was built in 820 AD in Rogaland, in the south
western part of Norway.
The Oseberg ship in the Vikingship Museum
The tube
A very good preserved iron mounted oak tree chest with an advanced iron lock (key was missing) was
found inside the ship. This chest opened smoothly and inside was found what later was registered as
“an extremely remarkable wooden tube – a sheath/scabbard for a stick or something…”. Several
other “household” items were also found inside this chest.
The “tube” is 106.5 cm long, in 2 parts and carved from a longitudinal split branch of black alder. The
outside of the tube is rounded and slightly conical lengthways (see picture on the next page).
The inside (bore) profile is also rounded in both ends, but strangely more square in the mid-section.
There are no signs of sound holes anywhere on the tube.
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With uneven intervals on the outside there are carved 6 narrow bands about 1 cm wide, which have
probably been used to keep the two halves together, maybe in addition to some glue material like
resin or tar.
The original Oseberg tube lying in its storage box.
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Both ends of the tube is partly deteriorated, and especially in the small end (the blowing end) there is
so little wood left that it is difficult to determine in detail how it was actually shaped.
The “blowing end” of the original tube
Because of these deteriorations the original tube is unplayable.
The Oseberg tube is the only find of its kind from the Viking age (800-1100 AD).
As the tube fitted exactly within the length of the chest, which one was made first, the chest or the
tube?
One guess has been that this tube was a musical instrument – a lurii.
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Analyzing the tube and testing replicas
Professor Jan Bill is head of the Vikingship Museum in Oslo, and on his initiative the wooden tube
was analyzed with a CT scanner and two replicas were made, based on measures taken from this 3 D
scan. One replica was made of small leaved linden and the second of beech.
Chief engineer and wood carver Bjarte Einar Aarseth made the two replicas of the tube.
Testing the replicas
In February 2009 a selected group of people, including several musicians, were invited to the
Vikingship Museum to test the replicas.
Olaf-B. Brattegaard got the best result with a lip driven method of overblowing (see photo below).
Olaf Brattegaard blowing and Hans Olav Gorset listening.
The opening at the blowing end was so small (8 mm, about half the diameter of a modern trumpet
mouthpiece) that the best way to play it was on the side of the lips where the tissue is more delicate.
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Wood carver Bjarte Einar Aarseth then took the liberty to make the blowing end a little more conical,
which made the tube a little easier to play.
It is known that blowing on the side of the lips was quite common on lurs in more modern times.
The smallest Cornettos (a Renaissance lip driven wind instrument) were also blown on the sides of
the lips.
One additional experiment was done with Odd Lund’s birch bark lur (the bell end) attached to the
end of the Oseberg tube.
As one could expect, this “extension” made the sound a bit louder and the overtones a little richer.
Wood carver Bjarte Einar Aarseth has later made a more proper “replica” extension which shows the
same tendency.
If there was a missing “bell” part, this would also indicate a lur in length closer to the ones used later
in the Nordic countries.
However, there is no indication that such extension has ever existed.
A video clip of this test on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oApZIm1ReaE
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Ruth Solveig Steinsland using a modern double reed mouthpiece. Jan Bill watching and listening.
Baroque oboist Ruth Solveig Steinsland tried blowing by inserting a (baroque oboe) double reed
mouthpiece, which was also possible to fit in the 8 mm opening.
The output SPL (Sound Pressure Level) turned out to be about 10 dBA louder with this method.
Ruth Solveig Steinsland has kept one of the replicas to do some more investigations on it as a double
reed instrument, and may write a scientific report about it.
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Inside shape of the tube
Reidar Sevåg and Olaf Brattegaard holding the two halves of one of the replicas, showing the inside.
Why was the tube not rounded on the inside?
A rounded tube would give better sound and on lurs even older than the Oseberg find the inside
shape (bore profile) is rounded. On the picture above we can see that most of the tube has a square
shape. Only both ends are rounded.
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BIAS measuring
The input impedance curves of a modern lur
The input impedance curves of one of the replicas of the Oseberg tube
In January 2011 one of the replicas of the Oseberg tube was taken to Trondheim for some BIAS (Brass
Instrument Analyzing System) measurements with the help of Phd. Torunn Smevik.
The input impedance curves of a modern lur and the Oseberg tube are shown above.
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Other findings
In 1995 a lur made of wood was found in Herning, Denmark.
The lur found in Herning and a replica of it
The Herning lur was made of hazel with 11 windings of ash and it was 79.5 cm long.
In Holing, close to Herning another 78 cm long lur was found. Both lurs were found in a well and
dates back to the Iron Age (375-530 AD). In other words, it is known that lurs were used in
Scandinavia many centuries before the Viking age.
The lur found in Holing and a replica of it.
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Discussion - hypothesis
Compared to the about 1500 years older bronze lurs (Bronze Age 1600 – 800 BC), which are much
more sophisticated both in design and playability, the Oseberg tube seems rather primitive (and
maybe sloppy or unfinished) made.
The blowing end is also exceptionally small compared to the wooden lurs from Herning and Holing,
making the Oseberg tube pretty difficult to play.
This is indeed strange - one would believe that the knowledge of making musical instrument in the
Viking age was on a higher level – taking the time era into consideration.
However, taking the present aspects into consideration, the probability that the Oseberg tube is a
lur, is quite likely. Archeologist and author Reidar Sevåg is convinced the Oseberg tube is a lur.
When looking at the replica from outside it really looks like a lur (see photos of Brattegaard and
Steinsland blowing the replicas).
Also the conical shape points in the same direction, but both ends are confusing. The blowing end is
very small (8 mm), so unless one use the side of the lips it is very difficult to play. Unfortunately this
end on the original has not much wood left, so it is hard to know how it was really shaped. Bjarte
Einar Aarseth took the liberty to expand the rim and cup a bit on one of the replicas. This made
blowing easier. It is also known that blowing on the side of the lips was quite common on lurs in
more modern times. The smallest Cornettosiii was also blown on the sides of the lip.
The “bell” end of the replica.
There is a strange squared ending inside the “bell end” (see picture above). This “non bell” ending
destroys the sound. Could it be that there was a separate lost part that was supposed to be attached,
or was the tube sloppy made or made in a hurry due to the burial?
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Based on this speculation we did the last test using the end part of Odd Lund’s birch bark lur. This
made the sound a bit louder and the overtones a little richer. If there was a missing extension this
would also indicate a lur in length closer to the ones used later in the Nordic countries.
The small end of the tube is so deteriorated that it is difficult to determine if it was a mouthpiece end
at all (see photos on page 3 and 4). This can also be seen on the CT scan 3 D image.
The Herning and Holing lurs have a much larger mouthpiece end. They are also better preserved, so
there is no doubt that those are wooden lurs.
Is it a reed instrument?
There are flutes made of bone or wood from the Viking era with sound holes.
Double reed instruments from the Middle East (Constantinople / Miklagard) were probably known to
Vikings that sailed down there via the rivers in Russia.
All of these instruments (forerunners to the obo) had sound holes.
Due to the lack of sound holes the authors of this article consider the double reed hypothesis
rather unlikely.
Unless other finds of Viking lur instruments are discovered, that have similarities with the Oseberg
tube, we think it is reasonable to keep the question of it being a lur open ….. even if the probability is
clearly present.
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Thanks to
Jan Bill - head of the Vikingship Museum in Oslo, who initiated the project
Bjarte Einar Aarseth - master woodcarver at the Vikingship Museum who made the replicas
Ruth Solveig Steinsland - baroque oboist who is working on the double reed hypothesis
Reidar Sevåg - author of the book “Det gjallar og det læt”, Oslo 1973
Torunn Smevik – Phd. who did the BIAS measurements in Trondheim
Viggo Valle – audio engineer who put a studio at disposal for the BIAS measurements
Odd Sylvarnes Lund – assistant professor at Norwegian Academy of Music, took part in testing
Hans Olav Gorseth – assistant professor at Norwegian Academy of Music, took part in testing
Mogens Friis, Denmark – for pictures of the Danish lur finds
Per-Olof Johansson, Denmark – help with info about the Danish lur finds
Birthe Skovholm, Denmark – help with info about the Danish lur finds
November 2011
Ole Jørgen Utnes
Olaf-B.Brattegaard
i
By dendrochronology dating, Stylegard & Bonde – 2009.
ii
Reidar Sevåg - “Det gjallar og det læt”, Oslo 1973
iii
Cornetto, a Renaissance lip driven wind instrument.
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