What is Kulning?

In the movie Frozen 2, the voice that calls to Queen Elsa in the Kingdom of Arendelle is actually a Swedish call known as kulning. It’s a Swedish herding call known for its ability to round up cattle as it echoes through the mountains. I found it pretty interesting that they chose to put this into the movie, but it really enhances the movie. I recently found this amazing vocalist called Jonna Jinton and she demonstrates how hauntingly beautiful kulning is. 

Our ancient past is always calling out to us, even in our modern-day world through the latest Disney movie. Kulning is a beautiful ancient practice that used to be so dear to our ancestors living in the wilds of mountain pastures.

Although this practice comes from Sweden, almost every civilisation on Earth uses a herding call in one form or another. To me, this is why kulning is so interesting. It was critical to our survival, and now it is almost completely out of practice.

What is kulning?

Kulning is an ancient practice of herding cattle by singing. Instead of using a herding dog, a woman calls to the cattle to round them up or to keep away predatory animals. It’s a high pitched song that is so beautiful and melodic. It’s almost always performed by a woman because in Sweden women were often the herders.

Why was kulning used?

Unlike in Frozen 2, kulning was used to herd cattle. There is no evidence it has ever been used for religious or spiritual practices. It’s a song that we found as humans that worked to keep our herds of cattle safe, and to steer them back to us at the end of the day in the mountain pastures. Put simply, it’s a practice that evolved from practicality.

How does kulning work?

Kulning is high pitched in order to travel long distances across mountain pastures. Acoustically, it is a technique that uses head tones, including half-tones and quarter-tones.

What’s interesting is when the call is performed in head tones, that patterns of the tone are unaffected whether the listener is 1m or 11m away. When the call is made in a valley, it rings and echoes against the mountains. I can imagine in places like Scotland, this would be really effective in herding.

What’s the deeper meaning of kulning?

Although kulning has never been used for spiritual ceremony, to me it has undertones of shamanism. The women of the tribe were able to find a sound that animals responded to. Like Queen Elsa, these women found a way of communicating beyond their own senses into the animal world. They were able to communicate with the wild.

Kulning sounds almost like a blessing too. It’s a song, maybe like a lullaby, that we can sing to the cows. In a sense, it’s like we’re speaking their language, or at least, awakening a part within both human and beast. 

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